Rise Up O Flame
by Saavik13
Summary: Sequel to Whene're, which is re-posted as chapter 1. Hermione survives the war, but happens next? Can she overcome her past and find a place to belong in a world that is still as flawed as it ever was? Wars can't fix everything; the struggle goes on.
1. Prologue

Whene'er You Make A Promise  
  
Author: Saavik  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. I do own the plot, the dialogue, and everything else I can get my grubby little hands on.  
  
Summary: Re-write of original. This version is not mean to stand alone like the first. Pre-quel to Rise Up O Flame. Severus finds a certain cell to be different.  
  
Warnings: If I tell you, it would spoil the story. Besides, the sequel undoes the only real warning I can give you. Damn, I just gave it away.  
  
Whene'er You Make A Promise  
  
Whene'er you make a promise,  
consider well its importance.  
And when made,  
engrave it upon your heart.  
WW. Sheild, 1828  
  
The cell looked like all the others: cold, damp, small, and it held a single occupant. It looked like any other dungeon cell, from the blood coating the floor to the smell of human feces. It was an ordinary cell, so ordinary that its contents shouldn't matter.  
  
At least that's what Snape told himself as he approached it. "Find out who ssssshe isssss SSSSeverussss. SSSSShe is quite uncooperative and veritassssserum doessssn't appear to affect her. I want to know. Do what you mussssst but find me ansssswerssss." The voice of his master the Dark Lord Voldemort followed him, reminding him what he must do. The war was raging and Snape wondered what new casualty he would find behind the oak door. The others had laughed as he gathered his potions into the customary black bag. He didn't know what was going to be behind that standard iron and oak barrier, who he would be questioning nor what he would do when he found out.  
  
Lucius wanted to watch; he always wanted to watch. Snape refused him with an easy glare. The man was so much like his son. So controllable if you knew how to push. And Snape knew; the knowledge had been painful to discover, but he knew. Malfoy left him to prepare in peace.  
  
The door was waiting. The cell was waiting. Snape marched down the stone corridor with his two guards flanking him. Their silver masks gleamed eerily in the torch light and their footsteps sounded hollow. Snape ordered them to wait at the end of the cellblock. He would not need their protection nor his own mask. The woman inside the plain ordinary cell had been there for three weeks. Any normal, mundane, unimportant, insignificant, unnecessary woman would not be a threat after such a long stay in the Dark Lord's private dungeons. At the very least It would never see the light of day to incriminate him. Or so Snape said. He was so tired of the routine, the spying, the missions, the death, the ordinary cells and their everyday contents.  
  
The door looked like the others. It opened just like the others always did. The figure huddled in torn robes shrank back like the others. The faded Hogwarts crest made Snape pause, a student, seventh year by the size. It raised its head to meet his eyes. Recognition flashed in the brown lifeless vessels. This creature knew him, he was right. She had been a student. Snape closed the door, just like he always did. The dull clank of the lock sliding into place and the snickers of the guards made the thing in the corner cringe. He paid the sounds no mind; he had grown accustomed to the knowing laughter. What the others thought he did to get the information was not his concern. He didn't care if they thought the worst; they expected the worst. They did the worst daily. The only difference appeared to be that Snape's worst always provided answers while theirs ended in corpses.  
  
"Professor?" The thing on the floor spoke. They were not supposed to speak to him like that, not with hope, not with awe, and not with such spirit left. She should be broken. She should be a mess of tears and pleas. She was not like the cell. She was not ordinary. She never had been. A mudblood Gryffindor with the mind of a Ravenclaw and the tenacity of his own house. Its foolish bravery and calculating logic were doing it no good now. Nothing could be of help to it in this standard stone hell.  
  
"Professor, is that you?"  
  
Snape set his bag down and made sure the door had indeed locked and that the room was unmonitored. The moss covered walls were dripping moisture. He swept his black Death Eater robes back away from the pile of detriment in the corner and conjured a long low table of some unremarkable wood. The pathetic pile of rags was trying to stand but its legs were not at the right angles. The blood on the floor was thicker than normal. The cell seemed smaller.  
  
"Do what you have to, professor. I understand. Just.please tell him.tell him he would have been a wonderful father."  
  
No, not normal at all. The cell was a half-foot smaller than the others and the smell twice as noxious. He cast a spell to make the thing stop moving and it sunk to the floor.  
  
"Professor, make it quick. Please, I can't keep this up. I lost it, Professor."  
  
The large bag was half full now. His array of vials took up a good portion of the table he had conjured just as they always did. He picked up a small yellow one and held it up to the meager light from the small slit in the wall that let in the cold February air. He always started with the yellow one. It would not be long till the water on the walls would freeze, he thought absentmindedly. It always froze in February.  
  
"How long have I .it doesn't matter. I'm allergic to wormwood, sir."  
  
He put down the yellow one and picked up a purple potion instead. He didn't need to look at it; he knew what it was. He normally waited till later.. The cell was not like the others. The cell was asking something of him.  
  
"I know you can't take me home. Just please.tell him I never told them anything. I never gave away his secrets. Please Professor, tell him that for me. Tell him I will always love him."  
  
Snape turned his back and tried to understand why the cell was different. Why this one hurt him and the others didn't matter. Why should this filthy mudblood matter so much? Just an ordinary mudblood, just an ordinary cell.  
  
"You can always say it was an accidental reaction, or I pushed you too far. Two words, professor. That's all I need you to say. Just two words. Please. Just two words." Its voice was cracking with near panic. That at least was normal; if the content was unusual it could not be helped. Panic was always a constant in the dungeons.  
  
The vial in his hand had warmed. He clutched it closer. Just a mudblood, a meaningless mudblood. No name, no bloodline, - not important. Like the cell, the creature was replaceable and all too familiar. She, it, was just like the others.  
  
"Tell them who I am after...give them what they need. Go home, sir. Go home and tell him for me. Tell him he would have been a wonderful father. Give him that for me."  
  
Snape set his purple vial down. No, not replaceable. Just ordinary. She .IT was ordinary, like all the others. The cell was ordinary, the creature was ordinary, the task was ordinary.  
  
"Wormwood sir. I can't take it in potion form. I go into shock."  
  
He picked up a dark brown one instead. Ordinary and annoying. The mudblood had always been both. Brown haired, brown eyed, simple robes, simple.no not simple minded. Never that.  
  
"Thank you. Promise me...please, PLEASE!" Hysteria had taken over the pleas. Things were back to normal. Pleas he could handle; hysteria was expected.  
  
He walked over to it and poured the vial down its throat. It did not fight him. The cell was still different. The cell was grateful. The creature started to shiver and its eyes closed. He watched the light in the cell go out.  
  
"I promise." His voice echoed. There was no longer anything left to fill the cell. His hand reached out without his command and cut a chunk of the brown, filthy as it was, hair and slipped it into his robes.  
  
The door opened like all the others. The guards came like always. Lucius was not happy. His toy did not respond. Snape watched the cell empty of its meager contents. He looked back inside. It really was like all the others, the blood, the walls, the death and the cold, all there, all waiting. Why had he thought differently?  
  
He told them what they needed. He told the other Death Eaters her name. He told them who she was and why she didn't answer under their Veritaserum. She had been trained not to. He had trained her like the others at the school, the ones the old man had ordered him to teach. The special ones, the bright ones, the extraordinary ones, Dumbledore's favorites, the future of the Order of the Phoenix. He felt the punishment. He did not scream. She had never screamed; he somehow knew that. He bore his master's displeasure and suppressed the desire to flee from the Dark Lord's snake- like gaze. They let him go, stumbling and bloodied. They let him go home. He would be needed in another plain cell later. Another ordinary cell with its standard blood and its regulation smell. His unending penance for a moment of misplaced youthful idealism.  
  
Snape made it home to Hogwarts and his barren room in the castle's dungeons. He never escaped the dungeons. The fire grate was empty, as usual. The large stack of worthless first year essays sat in their customary place on the ancient desk in the corner. The house-elves kept the dust away but they could do nothing for the smell of dampness in the depths of the castle. He passed through his colorless, lifeless sitting room and into his equally stark bedroom. He ignored the bed hung with its normal heavy velvet drapes. He went straight for the large wardrobe and pulled the regulation teacher's robe from inside. He changed his robes, black to black, and made sure his silver mask and Death Eater robes were hidden.  
  
He looked around and wondered how much blood had flowed on the floor of his very chamber before the castle had become the school it now was. Had another like him worked his art here? Had another thought this cell ordinary? He did not want to know. Snape climbed the steps to the Great Hall, past the armor and the paintings to find the Boy-Who-Lived. Potter was sitting with the others, the special ones he had trained. The spoiled brat was not smiling now. He hadn't smiled in three weeks. His omnipresent laugh and dancing mirth had disappeared. He was not normal either. Like the woman, both did not fit in those cells. Both were beyond the blood, the rot, the fear. Both knew them only too well.  
  
Snape pulled out the handful of matted hair. He set it in front of the one he had promised to tell. The boy took all that remained of his love in his hand. His dark hair fell away from emerald eyes as he looked up. The others stared in horror at the mass of tangles and then the empty chair at their side.  
  
"Professor?"  
  
"It was all I could get out. All I could bring back." Snape's voice was even, controlled. It was his normal tone.  
  
"I don't understand, sir. Please.." The boy's green eyes begged for the professor not to say what he had to know was next. The red-headed Weasley boy got up and left the table. His face so pale his freckles looked like ink blots on parchment.  
  
"I'm sorry. I promised." Snape lowered his eyes to hide his expression. The world did not need to know, they did not need to see that the cell had been different. This cell had followed him. They could not see the truth; children should never see the truth.  
  
"What did you promise, sir? Where is she; do they have her? Is that why she disappeared? I thought she." The eyes again pleaded, 'make it not so, change it for me, not her, not again.' Severus did not need to look up. He knew what those eyes held all too well. The boy's mother had given the same look to him so many years ago when she found the Mark on his arm, proof of his darkness, of his submission to his lord.  
  
Dumbledore stood at he head table and started for the group. McGonagall had dropped her dinner fork and was growing steadily paler. The other school children slowly stopped their dinner conversations to hear. Snape ignored them; he ignored Draco's half-smirk and rather well concealed terror. Snape struggled to make his voice obey him. Weakness was not a luxury he could afford.  
  
"She is not there anymore. I am sorry." The bite behind the words made the others at the table flinch. Now was not the time to remember. One should never remember such things. The lady that had owned those eyes first was gone. Her body was burnt and her soul had left his side. He raised his head again. Show no weakness, he must not show weakness at any cost.  
  
"Oh no, I .she can't be.." The green orbs faded a bit then became too bright to look at.  
  
Snape closed his own eyes in response. "She made me promise.."  
  
"..what did you promise?" The hope was still there, hovering behind the despair. Snape could feel it. The rest of the hall stopped all movement. Even the house banners seemed to stop fluttering.  
  
"To tell you." He would finish this; he had given his word. No matter the outcome, he had given his word. The only honor he had left was his word.  
  
"To tell me what?" The arm tugging at his own caused the potion master to flinch and spit out the words at last.  
  
"You would have been a wonderful father." He tore free of the grasp. The full meaning of the words were clear.  
  
The boy looked at his hands and a tear fell onto the once brown strands there. The once wild and uncontrollable brown strands that had caused their owner so much grief. "She was.I didn't know. Why did you tell me! Loosing her is.I would have been a father. She was pregnant, and I didn't know." He looked up with hurt and anger at his professor. A family is all the boy had ever wanted, the only dream the hero had retained for himself.  
  
Snape looked down without pity; he had exhausted his personal supply before the child in front of him had taken his first breath. His response was cold, as cold as the dungeon he had left not an hour before. "Be careful what you promise, Potter. Promises can only cause pain." He turned towards the door, ignoring the hurled insults and heart wrenching sobs that followed him. The sudden cacophony of voices did not reach his ears. He failed to see the young Weasley girl steadying the Potter boy on his way to the dormitory or her brother sinking onto the floor by the fallen girl's chair. He did not hear Albus calling his name or the thud of McGonagall's head hitting the table. He did not see Draco grow quiet as Crabbe chuckled or see Zabini's sad expression be masked with glee. He failed to notice the trip to the dungeons at all. He failed to care that he did not notice.  
  
Severus Snape simply left to work in his labs, to become lost to his simmering cauldron and shimmering flames. Wormwood and asphodel, salvation in death. The cell had looked like the others.. 


	2. Girls and Boys Come Out to Play

Rise Up O Flame  
  
Author: Saavik  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. I do own the plot, the dialogue, and everything else I can get my grubby little hands on.  
  
Summary: Sequel to Where're You Make a Promise. What do you do when you've been gone for five years and the world has changed? What do you do when your only love has left you? How do you cope with being a relic of a past everyone wishes to forget? How do you live when you have nothing?  
  
Pairings: HG/HP, HP/GW, HG/SS, RW/LL  
  
Warnings: Death, Dark Arts, Torture, Bitterness, Rape, Depression, and Homicidal Tendencies.  
  
Rise Up O Flame  
  
Rise up, O Flame by they light glowing.  
Show to us beauty, vision and joy.  
C. Praetorius, c.1600.  
  
Chapter One: Girls and Boys Come Out to Play  
  
The workmen had been cleaning out old Voldie's dungeons for years. The great 'Dark Lord' had fallen a little over three years ago now. But his dungeons were still full of rotting and dismembered corpses. Giant pits had been made in the hard granite floor of the lowest level and bodies thrown haphazardly into them. The workers were painstakingly trying to sort out who belonged to what group, wizard or muggle, and to return what was left to the proper family. It was beyond time consuming. They had only just reached the last pit. This one contained the bodies of some of the first victims of the resurrected lord, murdered five to six years ago.  
  
The air was rank from the decomposing flesh. Not much was left from above except bare bones, but the air was miraculously dry in the lower debts. The lack of moisture had caused many of the dead in the lower dungeons to start a natural mummification process. Most of the Ministry wizards and witches assigned to this gruesome task had flat out refused to touch this particular pit. It was the worst of the lot because the bodies still retained their human expressions. The faces frozen for all time in the positions held at death, the skin shriveled around missing eyes and mouths hung open as if screaming. It was too much for the normal crew. Even the ever-present water seemed to fear this place. Only two men had the courage to continue working.  
  
They had been at it for hours and the bottom was still not in sight. It would be weeks before they finished the pit. It was quite large and the bodies were sticking together. The two wizards even had to wear special clothing and charms incase of residual potions from the bodies. Dumbledore's pet Death Eater, Severus Snape, had been careful to warn them that many from this time period had fallen thanks to his life's work. He had glared and handed them bottles of antidote in case 'they were incompetent enough to allow contamination'. Snape had showed little remorse. The one time spy made no apologies for his atrocities. His dark eyes never showed a glint of humanity beyond anger and contempt. Not even during his infamous trial three years ago to the day.  
  
Body after body came out of the ground. A mother holding her son, a little boy with bright red hair, came out. It was obvious this was the missing Weasley. The eldest son of the family's wife and child had gone missing during the first rush of disappearances. Cyrgus, the elder of the workmen, carefully placed the remnants of the blond mother and her barely old enough to walk son on a black draped stretcher and charmed it to rise to the top of the dungeon entrance. One of the others would make sure the family received conformation of what they already knew in their hearts. Next came an older man, clearly muggle – he had dentures and a hearing aid. Cyrgus barely acknowledged him. Chances were slim of finding his muggle family. There was no magical trace signal to test for familiar similarities. In all likelihood the poor man would find his resting-place in a large mass grave outside of Hogsmeade with the others of his ilk. The muggle was followed by another woman, blessedly alone, and then a wizard still wearing his robes. It was obvious he had died a traitor's death; the Dark Mark still stood out on his left arm mocking the workers. If it had not been for a miracle of Avalonian proportions, that body could well have been the dour potions master. Cyrgus was not sure if he would have mourned or danced had that been the case. As it was, he lifted the body with udder disdain and dumped it unceremoniously onto the waiting gurney. This time he did not dignify the corpse with a black shroud. The bastard had worn black enough in life.  
  
A sharp screech stopped Cyrgus' work. He turned to reprimand his younger companion only to let loose his own startled yelp. Timothy had uncovered the most lifelike body they had seen. The half-girl/half-woman was covered in blood and her legs were most obviously broken, but her body was not torn and her limbs remained in place. Instead of the blackened gray skin of the others, hers looked, not pink, but very pale, almost like she had just died. Her hair was a tattered mass of brown with a large chunk missing on one side. But the oddest thing of all was the slight smile gracing her blue lips and the almost contented feel she gave off. Even the wand calluses on her fingers were still visible. Timothy shivered. Cyrgus ordered the younger man to take the body up personally. There was a chance that this one had some foul curse lingering on it that caused such a state of preservation. It would be best to have one of the curse breakers on hand look into it. Too bad the best, Bill Weasley, would be off for a while burying his wife and first born. That Finnigan upstart would have to do. 


	3. The Moon Doth Shine as Bright as Day

****

Rise Up O Flame

Author: Saavik

Disclaimer: 

I do not own these character. I do own the plot, the dialogue, and everything else I can get my grubby little hands on. 

Summary: 

Sequel to Where're You Make a Promise. What do you do when you've been gone for five years and the world has changed? What do you do when your only love has left you? How do you cope with being a relic of a past everyone wishes to forget? How do you live when you have nothing?

  
Pairings: 

HG/HP, HP/GW, HG/SS, RW/LL

Warnings: 

Death, Dark Arts, Torture, Bitterness, Rape, Depression, and Homicidal Tendencies.

****

Chapter Two: The Moon Doth Shine as Bright as Day

Severus Snape strode confidently to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore's office despite the unusual nature of his summons. The one time spy showed no outward sign of his inner discomfort at the abrupt interruption to his free day. Most of the wizarding community had yet to accept him back into the mainstream society and he was yet denied the luxury of appearing anything less than in control, no matter the circumstances. The now faded Dark Mark might as well have been plastered to his forehead. It mattered little to anyone that he had risked everything for Albus and his cause. The hours of pain he had endured in the vain hope of finding out something useful were meaningless. In the end, his years of slavish devotion to the old man were pushed aside by one upstart child with to much scar tissue on his forehead.

The last four times Severus had been called unexpectedly, and immediately, to the circular office it had been in response to a new charge by the Ministry in an attempt to remove him from Hogwarts, or at least, from being Head of Slytherin. As happy as he would be to leave the accursed school, Severus had to remain - no matter the personal inconvenience and lack of Ministry approval. The decimated Slytherins needed his guidance and support. So many had lost their parents and homes in the war. Now they bore the additional burden of constant suspicion, due solely to their sorting. The young first years, just starting their education's, now cried themselves to sleep for the first week after being sorted into Slytherin. Eleven years of age and they knew they would forever be considered evil, no matter what heroic deeds they preformed or how carefully they followed the rules. After all, once a snake, always a snake.

The young ones were not the only to feel the Ministries iron hand. His older students had to face inquiries about every magical possession they retained from dead parents, or in some cases, parents in Azkaban. Every book and scrap of parchment was subject to confiscation on the whim of a nameless bored auror. Only Hogwart's dungeons were safe from the vultures and their less than discriminating taste. Albus, at Severus' insistence, had forbidden the Ministry from searching the school and harassing the students, thus hampering their studies. As a consequence, most of the storage rooms were now full of heirlooms the students had rescued from the Ministry bonfires. Not a single dangerous object in the lot. When had a family portrait been dangerous, or an antique table? The Ministry simply took everything to be sure. So Severus had spent his last three summers collecting rare books and family genealogical tapestries for safe keeping in the depths of the castle. Much to the amusement of Albus and the gratitude of his students. Lupin had likened him to a larger, darker version of Kreacher. The werewolf had not been happy to find his potion less than satisfactory for the next six months.

When Snape reached the gargoyle he growled the password and barely kept from taking the stairs faster than their magical rotation. As usual, the door to the office swung open without a knock. But this time the only occupant of the room was the elderly Headmaster. Albus was seated and did not stand to great his friend and colleague. The old man had not made a complete recovery from the last battle three years ago. The Dark Lord had not attacked directly. Albus Dumbledore had done what no one had suspected. He started the final battle by storming the mansion Voldemort had built on the outskirts of a little town in lower Hampshire. 

While bold, and ultimately successful, the plan had not been without its drawbacks. The Order of the Phoenix was decimated. The ranks of the once secret order had been exposed to public and Ministry scrutiny. Those not killed in the battle were now carefully watched. Fudge, the Minister of Magic, feared that a coup would follow the downfall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Foolishness in the extreme. The Order had only had at the most fifty active members and fewer than twenty had survived the attack. 

While numerically even, the fight had not been. The Death Eaters had no scruples about the spells they cast. In the end, the only Order members to survive were the staff and surpassingly, the Weasleys. And one must not forget the bloody Boy-Who-Just-Won't-Die-No-Matter-What, Harry blasted Potter. Oh no, every list must include that_ wonderful_ individual.

Albus had been the hardest hit of the staff. Voldemort had concentrated all his spell casting ability at the wizard. Dumbledore had put all he had behind the attack early. Every ounce of his power went into collapsing the wards surrounding the mansion. After that task had drained him, he had been no match for the Dark Lord. Potter had swooped in at the last second and saved his mentor. The sword of Godric Gryffindor had flown true. 

Now the aged Headmaster could not bear to stand for more than a few moments. He could only muster enough strength to walk when numerous potions had been administered. He was physically broken. That little fact, however, did not deter the old coot one bit. Flying lemon drops assaulted faculty as they tried to discuss course schedules. Tea sets appeared at elbows whenever one became agitated. And worst of all, the man _still _had more knowledge of the happenings inside the walls of Hogwarts then even the damned ghosts.

Severus scowled. If Albus was alone, then chances were slim it was another Ministry inquiry into his private life as he had feared. Also unlikely was the chance of any knew Dark threat that Fudge had dredged up from his abysmally paranoid imagination. So if it was not a Ministry emergency, why was he here? This was his Easter break and he would be damned if he'd spend it on another errand for the old man. He had paid his debt to society for that one mistake so many years ago. He was done. He'd settled that account in full, with interest. Many, many times over.

He took his seat and waited for the other wizard to speak first. Dumbledore actually looked flustered. Snape raised an eyebrow. Whatever had gotten the Headmaster in a tizzy must be extraordinary. He'd only ever seen the man that flustered when Potter had refused a position on staff in favor of becoming a muggle weatherman. (Where _that_ occupation had come from still amazed both men. Potter simply claimed he wanted to live quietly and outside the public eye. Not that being on that Muggle telly five nights a week could really count as 'outside the public eye'. ) Severus scowled as the headmaster interrupted his thoughts.

"Severus, a certain problem has come to my attention. I believe you might be able to shed some light on it." Albus spoke hesitantly as the teapot careened through the air to land on the arm of Snape's chair. "Young Seamus Finnigan, you remember him don't you? Harry's yearmate? Well, young Finnigan was apprenticed to Bill Weasley as a curse breaker. They've been helping clean out the dungeons in Hampshire…"

Snape went rigid. Hampshire equaled Voldemort. Voldemort equaled Death Eaters. Death Eaters equaled Ministry. Ministry equaled headache. Headache equaled…

"They seem to have found an anomaly," The headmaster finished.

"Anomaly?" Snape blinked. "In the dungeon."

"Yes Severus, in the dungeon."

Snape sneered, "I know for a fact that they reached the oldest section this week. I personally delivered the antidote to several lethal and long lasting toxins to those incompetent Ministry fools. That pit is filled with _anomalies _as you call them. I can name at least a dozen potions that cause gross disfigurement that I personally implemented numerous times before my cover was blown by Arthur Weasley and his stupidity."

Albus sighed. "Arthur meant well, Severus. He thought…"

"That has always been the problem with Weasleys. They shouldn't be allowed to think." He paused as if in thought, "Or breed."

"Be that as it may, we have a larger problem." Albus sent a lemon drop floating towards his potions master. Snape glared hard enough the candy fell out of the air with a thud. The Headmaster looked slightly disappointed. "Mr. Finnigan has found someone we know."

Severus narrowed his eyes. "There are still several bodies left to be recovered of prominent wizards and witches. At least a dozen former students from my time here, a good half of our muggleborn students' parents…."

"Yes, I know. But this individual was declared dead on your testimony." Albus poured a cup of tea without using his hands.

"So it is one of my 'victims' then. Which one? Danister, Brown, Abott, Jordon?" Snape starred at the portrait of one of the old Headmasters as it chuckled. Damn the whole Black family to the ninth layer of hell. "One of my Slytherins that refused the Mark?" There were so many possibilities; there had been so many cells.

"No. Hermione Granger." Albus ignored the sharp intake of breath. "And Severus, there is a slight complication." Snape made eye contact. "She's not dead."

There was a resounding silence. "Not dead? Not dead! But Albus, I gave her…."

"The Draught of the Living Death. You know as well as I do that it does not kill." Albus took a sip of tea.

"She was allergic to wormwood. Wormwood is one of the two major ingredients in the potion. She should have gone into to shock long before the magical properties could have caused status. I SAW her go into shock." Snape ran a hand through his untidy hair. "Besides, it was common practice for the Death Eaters to entertain themselves with the dead bodies. What wasn't used for dark rituals or potion ingredients was often simply mutilated for practice."

"I can't explain it, Severus, but Seamus found her perfectly intact. Not a single hair out of place except for the chunk you took to give to Harry Potter. I would have thought the weight of the other bodies on top would have at least broken her bones if not crushed her, but she is literally in perfect status. Poppy is healing her injuries and taking care of the shock as we speak. She'll be ready for you to administer the antidote in a matter of a few hours."

Severus was simply stunned. "She's alive. I gave that potion to dozens, Albus. Dozens. None of them have been found. Why did she make it out?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "I have no idea what made her different. But that is not the end of it." He again shook his head. "Harry will not be there when she wakes up."

"What? He got the girl pregnant, and she saved his sorry hide by not telling them she was carrying his child. If the Dark Lord had found out he had the unborn offspring of Harry Potter in his possession, do you have any idea of the Dark spells that can be done with something like that? Potter could have been killed from anywhere! He owes her more than can be communicated."

It was Albus' turn to blink. "Severus, have you not been reading the papers?"   


Snape scowled. "I stopped reading the Prophet when Skeeter was rehired."

"Harry married Ginny Weasley a little over four years ago, before her graduation, in the Great Hall. They have a son named James. His fourth birthday is next week."

"They've multiplied already?" Snape scowled deeper, now he remembered. He had locked his door until the damned ceremony was over and the exuberant guests long gone. "I don't suppose you'd consider me for early retirement in 6 ½ years?"

"This is not a joking matter. When Hermione took that potion she was engaged to Harry Potter. The year was 1998. It is now 2003 and her love is married to another with a family. For her no time has passed, yet the rest of use have lived a lifetime. Voldemort is gone. Harry has effectively gone back to the muggle world with his wife. Her schoolmates all have jobs. She never even graduated, Severus!"

"I have yet to see where this is my problem."

"You gave her that potion. Therefore I am making it your problem. You will wake her up. You will tell her what has happened, with myself in the room. And you will tell Harry." The headmaster let his power leak out enough to give his words authority. Snape shivered. 

"If you think I'm about to let Potter in on the truth easy…."

"I doubt you understand the word easy, Severus." Albus reigned in his power and took a sip of tea as if nothing had happened.

"Then why me?" Severus resisted the urge to whine. 

Albus sighed, "Because you are the only one here that can tell him. The rest of us wouldn't know where to start."

Severus growled, "Have no doubt, Headmaster, Potter will not be happy."

"That is a certainty no matter who tells him."

~/~/~

"She's what!"

"You heard me Potter. Granger is alive. Or rather will be in an hour." Severus smirked and crossed his arms.

Harry Potter, the one time Boy-Who-Lived and now Man-Who-Survived, stood before his old potion professor's desk in shock. Snape did not offer him a seat. "Hermione's…" He sat down anyway.

Snape smirked harder. "Yes, Potter. Your first 'love' is alive. Alive and still under the misconception that you care for her."

Harry glared. "I did, I mean do, I mean…oh hell. I loved her. I really did. But she was dead, I mean, you can't expect me to never fall in love again. I was a kid!"

"Potter, you are still a child. Being twenty-two and a half does not mean much." Snape leaned away from the desk. "Granger will want to know why you married her best friend less than a year after her death."

Harry raked a hand through his hair causing it to stand on end. "Ginny helped me after Hermione died, or whatever it is she did. I needed someone and Ginny was there. Good god, Hermione's alive!" A smile started on the man's lips.

"Yes she is. Now you have a choice. Granger or Weasley." The smile died.

"I can't leave Gin! What about James? I can't abandon my family." Harry looked severely affronted by the notion. "Ginny just found out last night, she's having a baby, another boy. We're naming him Sirius."

"Technically speaking, Granger is your first family. She did carry what would have been your first born." Snape sneered at the name. Good Merlin, there were now two more Potters coming his way. He was getting a migraine.

"She never gave birth! It doesn't count." Harry looked wildly around as if trying to find a scoreboard.

  
"This isn't quidditch, Potter. Everything counts." Severus let an evil looking grin onto his face. "Granger is going to wake up thinking it's still 1998. To her she just lost that baby. To her, you are her fiancé. She will expect you to be there; holding her hand, telling her you'll have another child. Telling her it doesn't matter that Malfoy raped her or beat her. She'll expect you to tell her how beautiful she is despite the injuries and stress. She'll want all those meaningless platitudes you used to get her on her back. Most of all, she'll want you to tell her how sorry you are the baby is dead."

Harry stilled. "What if I'm not?" Snape looked confused. Harry continued, "What if I'm not sorry the baby died?" He looked startled by his own words. "She was just seventeen, I wasn't any older. We weren't ready."

"I do believe Miss Weasley was only seventeen when she gave birth to your son. Sixteen when you conceived him. She was still in school when you married." Snape sneered, "Potters have an unfortunate tendency to breed young." 

Harry ignored that comment. "But Gin is different. She never wanted a career like Hermione. A baby would have ruined her life."

Snape gave a dark laugh. "Granger gave up her own dreams when she found out she was having your child. I suspect that is why she returned home over Christmas break. She wanted to make up her mind away from you, weigh her priorities. She decided to keep the child and give up her apprenticeship to McGonagall to better care for it and her idiotic lover. Dumbledore found the letter in her school trunk after I brought back 'proof' of her death. She was giving it all up for you and your spawn." He leaned back further. "She was trading seven years of schooling and a fulfilling career for a lifetime in the limelight and catering to your selfish need for companionship."

Harry simply stared. "I never asked her to. I can't leave Ginny and James. I really thought she was dead."

"We all did, Mr. Potter. Now you have to tell her the truth."

"What? I can't do that! She's been through hell. I can't just be there when she wakes up and say, look honey, I'm sorry but I've gone and got Ginny pregnant too. By the way, I was thinking about you when I did it!" Harry banged his fist on the desk. "That would go over oh so well. Especially when Hermione gets in the first argument with Ginny. They were best friends!"

"Potter, you are an idiot." Snape sneered. "Now be a man and go tell Granger the truth."

"No."

"Excuse me, Potter; I thought I just heard you say _no_."

"You did. No. I will not do it. Hermione isn't my concern." Harry stood up, a desperate look in his eyes. It reminded Snape of that day in the Great Hall when he had handed the then boy the bundle of hair. "You said she was dead. You said she was gone. I took your word for it, Professor. You clean the mess up."

"Potter, come back here!" But it was too late. The Man-Who-Survived-To-Be-An-Idiot was already half way down the hall. Snape stared after him. "Potters always were the true cowards. They might run into a curse fight to save a dying dog, but they can't stand to do what needs to be done." Snape turned and headed for the infirmary. He'd be damned if he'd let Potter off that easy. 

He got there in time to see Poppy Pomfrey administer the last spell to heal the injuries Lucius Malfoy had caused. Snape simply reached into his robes and pulled out a brown bottle and tipped its contents down the prone girl's throat without a word. He noticed distractedly that it was the same bottle, cleaned and refilled with a different potion, from 5 years ago. It made a lovely sound crashing into the stone floor. Snape hated irony.

A second later she coughed. A minute later she twitched. An hour later her eyes blinked open.

"Professor?" She looked around. "The infirmary? How did you?" She caught sight of the spring time sky and the changed layout of the hospital ward. She looked back to the potion master and noted the gray hair starting to show at his temples. Her eyes widened in realization. She had always been quick. "How long?"

Snape watched Albus enter, floating in his chair. "Five years." Snape kept his tone blank.

"Five…." Hermione glance around and saw the Headmaster. "Professor Dumbledore, sir, where is Harry? Is he alright?"

Albus looked at her with a sad expression. "Oh my child, Severus has some things to explain." She looked back, fear most prominent in her expression.

"Mr. Potter is alive and well, Ms. Granger. Voldemort is dead." Severus paused. "As for the rest…."


	4. Leave Your Supper and Leave Your Sleep

****

Rise Up O Flame

Author: Saavik

Disclaimer: 

I do not own these characters. I do own the plot, the dialogue, and everything else I can get my grubby little hands on. 

Summary: 

Sequel to Where're You Make a Promise. What do you do when you've been gone for five years and the world has changed? What do you do when your only love has left you? How do you cope with being a relic of a past everyone wishes to forget? How do you live when you have nothing?

  
Pairings: 

HG/HP, HP/GW, HG/SS, RW/LL

Warnings: 

Death, Dark Arts, Torture, Bitterness, Rape, Depression, and Homicidal Tendencies.

****

Chapter Three: Leave Your Supper and Leave Your Sleep

"Harry married Ginny?" Hermione asked in a shaky voice. Severus nodded. 

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "They have one child and another on the way?" She opened her eyes and watched Severus nod in the affirmative, yet again.

"And I've only been gone for five years?" Snape let that stand without comment. Hermione didn't need him to say anything. Her eyes went dark and she gripped her blanket.

"How old?"

"How old is who what, Ms. Granger?" Albus asked kindly.

"How old is Harry's…"

"His son will be four in a few days." Severus answered.

"Four? But I've only been gone for five years. I disappeared in late January. It's the middle of April …that means they conceived a child in July. He only waited six months to get my best friend pregnant!" Hermione struggled with the bed sheets. "Where is that bastard? I'll make him remember who taught him all those hexes! Coward! Where is he?! Why didn't he tell me himself?" She made it out of the bed and half way to the door before she burst into tears and Madame Pomfrey had to guide her back to bed, totally missing the girl's cringe at the physical contact. "Why didn't he…?"

Snape sneered and resisted the urge to gloat. "I believe you already answered that question.. Potter is a coward." Albus did not agree nor argue the point. He simply floated closer and wrapped his arms around both the sobbing medi-witch and girl. Albus looked pointedly at Snape as Hermione stiffened as if it was the potion master's fault. Severus was half way to the door when a choked voice called for him to stop.

"What about Malfoy?" Behind the tears was an edge of steel. Severus turned and caught the look of absolute hatred in her eyes. He smiled. His yellow teeth made the act all the more sinister.

"Lucius Malfoy died at my wand, Ms. Granger. Trust me, he did not enjoy his last moments." Severus turned to leave once more in a swirl of black.

"Thank you, Professor." The door to the infirmary shut firmly.

~/~/~

Snape hurried to his rooms and started his fireplace, throwing in a handful of powder. "Draco Malfoy." There was a pause and then the flames changed color and the blond head came into view.

"Severus? What can I do for you? Has that old fool finally croaked?" Draco smirked and adjusted his Ministry uniform. The silver glint of Unspeakable robes somehow matched his hair. Severus had never been able to figure out how the man managed it.

Snape glared. "The Headmaster is still with us. I'm calling to tell you that Granger is awake."

Draco covered his shock well. "I'd heard rumors…so she did survive." Draco smirked. "Pity you killed father. I'm sure I would have enjoyed watching her deal with him in her own fashion. Granger always struck me as rather creative."

Snape also smirked. "Yes, well, I was calling in part to warn you. I have the distinct impression she might not care that you stayed neutral in the war. After all, you do have striking similarities to your father in more than appearance." 

Draco simply shrugged. "I am my father's son. What more can be said except that I am also my mother's son. Her intelligence coupled with father's cunning are formidable."

"Modesty seems to have never taken up residence in the gene pool, however." Severus deadpanned.

"Yes, well, that really wasn't important when considering the arranged marriages back then. I'll be sure to consider it when I select my mate." Draco pulled a piece of invisible lint of his robes and let it fall to the bottom of the fireplace. "I'll take your warning into consideration. Did Potter take the news well?"

"As only a Potter can. He buried his head in the sand and denies all responsibility."

Malfoy snorted. "Figures. So what's to be done with Granger? She's not a legal adult but she's not really a student. She missed her NEWTS and the Ministry will not allow her to be tested now. It matters little that she was incapacitated at the time. As far as they are concerned there are no good excuses for missing the tests."

Now Severus snorted. "Normally I would agree, however being dead is a rather good reason for missing an examination."

Draco grinned. "Regulations are regulations. Even Dumbledore can't change the bureaucracy overnight. She's out a diploma. Of course, the old apprenticeship system does not require one. If she wants to attend university, however, she's out of luck. The wizarding ones only except graduates from credited schools."

"Minerva had offered her a position as apprentice. Granger had the letter turning her down in her trunk. It seems Granger had been with child but lost it sometime during the torture."

Draco paled. "Merlin, if father had known…."

Snape nodded, "The unborn infant would have been sacrificed in order to weaken the father. That was why Lucius could never get a name from her. And being muggleborn there was no magic signature to link her to a particular family. Her age was hard to determine and he never bothered to test her for pregnancy." Severus sneered. "He never cared about such things." 

"He always was sloppy," Draco agreed. "All he would have had to do was pull the school records to find muggleborn Gryffindors. Well, I hardly think McGonagall will offer again. Rumor has it she's accepting the Creevy boy as apprentice at the end of the year. University isn't agreeing well with him so he contacted her instead."

Snape nodded, "She told us in a staff meeting last Thursday." He paused, "Is there anything you can do for her, Draco? Are there any openings in the Ministry? The girl does have talent."

"Concern for a Gryffindor mudblood, Severus?" Draco laughed, "How unusual." He cocked his head to the side and pondered for a moment. "She has no wizarding status I'm afraid; no diploma, and barely of magical age. Her best bet is the muggle… damn."

"What is it?" Severus asked.

"She's muggleborn."

"Yes."

"Her parent's memories, and anyone else that knew her, would have been altered when she died. As far as the muggles know Hermione Granger was never alive."

  
Snape was silent for a moment. "They erased her parent's memory of her?"

Draco ruffled his hair in exasperation. "Standard ministry practice. A blanket Obliviate cast via a personal object. It works on anyone not having wizarding ability or living in a wizarding environment. Then they simply mop up the paperwork, steal the birth records and such. Simple really. It's quite elegant in its own way. Dumbledore would have handed over some personal item to the Obliviators and a half hour later, no more Granger."

"That is barbaric. Albus agreed to this?"

Draco glared, "He was one of the inventors of the spell over a hundred years ago. Some muggles that had lost wizards or witches in their families started talking to the media. It caused a huge scandal. So mister-goodness created this handy little blanket spell." Draco sneered. "Where was his righteousness then?"

Snape closed his eyes. "She has no status in either the muggle world or the wizarding?"

"Complete persona non grata." Draco sighed. "Look, I'll see what I can do. Why is this so important to you anyway?"

Severus stared off into space. "The cell was different."

Draco's eyes hardened. "You were the one." Severus did not respond. Draco nodded. "Right. Penance for past sins. Thought you were done with it and here comes another one." The young wizard smiled. "The least I can do for you, keeping me out of this mess, is help you extradite yourself from this dung heap."

  
"Thank you, Draco." Severus inclined his head towards the fire. His favorite former student could always be counted on for assistance and inside Ministry information, of the classified kind.

"You will of course owe me." Draco looked at his nails and buffed them with the edge of his sleeve.

"Of course." Severus killed the fire with a sweep of his hand just as Albus walked, or rather floated, in.

"Severus, did you come up with anything to offer Hermione?"

Severus did not ask how the man knew that was what he was up to. "No, I have not."

Albus sighed, "I thought not. I told her all of it. About her parents and her inability to take the NEWTS. I thought it best to get it all out in the open at once."

Severus nodded. "In the long run that will be best. For now I would watch her for signs of suicide."

Dumbledore rubbed his eyes. "I already have a charm on her just in case." He waved his wand and a pot of tea appeared. He handed a cup to Severus. "I contacted Ollivander. He's coming over with a copy of her wand. Unicorn hair, maple, 11 inches." Severus sipped his tea, while Albus simply stirred his. "I'm having him bring a few others. The kind of experience she has had often changes one's wand preferences." 

Snape contemplated the brown liquid. Unicorn hair was the core for innocence, purity, and selflessness. His first wand had been unicorn hair. He unconsciously fingered the one now in his pocket, the one procured after his Markation at seventeen. For over twenty-five years he had had a dragon heartstring core. He doubted he could ever wield a unicorn base again. The broken bits of his first wand in the bottom of his nightstand were proof.

~/~/~

Dumbledore sat silently long into the evening. When he left, Snape made a snap decision. He rose and went to visit the girl. He found her huddled on the bed, a grim look of determination on her face.

"Go away," She snapped when she saw him. Snape raised an eyebrow. "Get out."

"Why Ms. Granger, such manners," He purred in his most dangerous tone.

She simply laughed, "Don't try it with me, Snape. I've lived through worse than your glare and scathing remarks." She shivered, "Much worse." 

Snape reached for an extra blanket and went to drape it over the girl's shoulders. She shrank back from him. "Sorry. I…I can't seem to stop doing that. 

Snape nodded, "That is to be expected. Lucius was never known for his restraint with his play things." He did not try to lessen the impact of his words.

"You could say that," Hermione gave a wry grin. "So, do you have an idea what's to become of me? Where am I to go? What has he left me good for?" She pulled the blanket tight. "I have no family anymore. My former fiancée is a bastard. I lost my baby. I evidently can't even graduate." She paused, "McGonagall stopped by. She wanted to tell me she was sorry about my apprenticeship, but that she'd already taken on Dennis Creevy and she can only have one apprentice."

Snape nodded solemnly, "She had no idea you were alive. None of us did." It was not phrased like an apology.

Hermione simply sat there for a moment before continuing in a small voice. "I lived for him you know: for Harry, ever since first year. I did everything for him. I knew he was the only chance the wizarding world had to defeat Voldemort." She stared hard into Snape's eyes. "I was right. Pomfrey told me about the final battle, how Harry used the sword to channel all of the collected power of the Order into one killing curse and hurled it into the bastard's heart." 

She turned to look at the wall again. "I did everything for him; from staying here for holidays or at the Burrow instead of with my family; to spending my time at home searching for a new defense tome that just might help. I read every kind of book imaginable until my eyes ached, trying desperately to find an obscure reference for the latest disaster. I brewed dangerous potions in bathrooms without ventilation for him." A tear ran down her cheek. "I was willing to give him the family he always craved even if it meant I could never have what I wanted. Because in the end, I just wanted him to be happy. I wanted to make sure the bloody Boy-Who-Lived was happy. I thought he deserved that after all we were pushing on him; forcing him to do, to shoulder. I wanted to share that burden with him." She angrily shoved the tear away. "No one even knew what I gave up in the end, the public couldn't know Harry had knocked up his girlfriend while still in school. He had an all-important reputation after all. Besides, you won in the end without me. I was forgotten, all I did was forgotten." She held her breath for a moment. "I sacrificed everything and it was all for nothing." She sniffled. "I fought too. Why do I feel like I did nothing important?"

There was no answer for that. Severus did not even try. "You are welcome to stay here at Hogwarts as long as you need to, Ms. Granger. Dumbledore will not turn you away." It was not enough to make up for it all. Oh, Severus knew that. He knew sacrifice. He also knew that the very nature of the damnable phenomena was that you never ended up being paid back. Ever. When Hermione failed to respond, he left her there alone and returned to his rooms. After all, she wasn't his responsibility. His sacrificing was over.

He sent three of the students that had remained at the school for the holiday scampering with his glare. He let the door to his chambers bang shut frightening two more. He poured a glass of scotch and stared at it. Damn it all, why now? He wondered. He set the glass down and picked up the nearest book. He flipped randomly through and stopped in the middle. Poe always did cheer him up.


	5. And Join Your Play Fellows in the Street

**Rise Up O Flame**

Author: Saavik

Disclaimer:

I do not own these characters. I do own the plot, the dialogue, and everything else I can get my grubby little hands on.

Summary:

Sequel to Where're You Make a Promise. What do you do when you've been gone for five years and the world has changed? What do you do when your only love has left you? How do you cope with being a relic of a past everyone wishes to forget? How do you live when you have nothing?

Pairings:

HG/HP, HP/GW, HG/SS, RW/NL

Warnings:

Death, Dark Arts, Torture, Bitterness, Rape, Depression, and Homicidal Tendencies.

Author Note: I was impatient, so this has not been betaed.

Chapter Four: And Join Your Play Fellows in the Street

Six months later:

Severus set down his quill and looked dejectedly at the last of the third year Ravenclaw essays. Really, why did he bother? Even the House known for logic was pathetic. He sighed and turned to the larger stack of fifth year Hufflepuff essays. Merlin he hated grading the things. He'd contemplated not assigning essays anymore, after all no one except Granger had ever completed them to his satisfaction. Granger. The thought came unbidden. It had been exactly six months since the girl had woken up in the infirmary and little had changed. 

She'd spent the first few days being monitored in the hospital wing before Albus had her moved to a guest suite next to McGonagall. Her old headmistress was to keep an eye on her. Unfortunately, Severus doubted that was happening. Minerva was busy with her duties as deputy headmistress and her new apprentice, Creevy. The woman had done little for her former favorite student. Granger had been left mostly on her own. Severus often caught sight of her in the Restricted Section of the library and once or twice at the Apothecary in Hogsmeade over the summer. But the girl mostly kept to her meager three room quarters. When classes resumed, she had at first tried to eat in the Great Hall with the rest of them, but the noise and looks got to her. The students knew all about her story. The gossip mill was still strong at Hogwarts and it hadn't been five days before every student knew that Hermione Granger had escaped the Dark Lord and been kept in a living death for five years. There were even stories that struck close to the truth, having her pregnant at the time.

Severus scowled and grabbed the essays. He did not need to think about _her_. Not now at least. But he couldn't stop seeing the look in her eyes when that imbecilic first year Gryffindor had asked Granger when she would be getting her Order of Merlin. Granger had looked shocked until Albus had explained that everyone, with the exception of Severus, that had fought on the side of the light and survived had received one. At the time it had been four months since she had woken up, and no one had mentioned it to her. Albus had twinkled and said he was sure it was lost in the owl mail. Granger hadn't seemed to care, that is until the owl came a week later bearing a message from the Minister of Magic. Granger had been formally notified that she was not a candidate for the Order of Merlin. She had been legally dead at the time of the final battle, therefore she was ineligible. The girl had looked blankly at the paper and handed it to Albus before walking out of the room with an almost palpable air of menace hanging about her.

Severus marked a large slash through the first essay's pathetic attempt at a title. He angrily circled a grammatical error before pushing the stack away. He couldn't concentrate. Not like this. He couldn't get the girl's eyes off his mind. They were so blank. They looked like they did in the cell, before she'd realized it was him. Lifeless, closed off, cold. Granger wasn't supposed to look like that. Granger wasn't supposed to be silent and alone. She was supposed to be married to Potter with a gaggle of children. Or maybe Weasley and goggle of brats. He gave up and went to get a glass of something significantly stronger than tea.

He was loosing his edge and becoming soft. He'd even gone so far as contacting Draco about her situation again last month. He'd wanted to know the real reason why she wasn't getting the Order of Merlin. Severus knew he hadn't because of his shady past, but why her? Simply by keeping her mouth shut she'd earned it. Draco had sneered and said it was simple really. If they gave out another one it would headline all the newspapers. They couldn't afford that. It would bring up a lot of bad memories and awkward questions. So the Ministry had decided to ignore her.

Severus moved into his living room and sat down in the large leather chair in front of the fire and debated the merits of getting up again to get the scotch. He mentally shrugged and used a summoning charm.

He closed his eyes and thought about the latest development with the girl. He'd been doing his habitual late night rounds the night before when voices caught his attention from an unused classroom. He'd thought for a moment he was going insane. What was Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger doing in a classroom at one in the morning? For a moment he thought he should be looking around for invisible Potters. He'd cast an invisibility charm on himself instead and stepped inside. The answer to what they were doing was apparently getting shit-faced. Why they hadn't stayed in the girl's rooms was a mystery, but there they were. Two former students sprawled out on a hastily conjured blanket with an empty bottle of vodka and a half full case of what appeared to be some kind of muggle concoction of the alcohol verity.

Intrigued, he had made the foolish decision to stay. The conversation he overheard made him wish he'd listened to his conscious for once and not spied on the two. He couldn't get the sight of her out of his mind. It was the first time he'd seen her animated since the infirmary.

"So why didn't you come sooner?" Granger had asked before downing half of one of the smaller bottles.

Weasley had grimaced and looked at the floor. "Dumbledore said I should give you time. He thought you should get 'settled in' before I came."

Granger snorted. "Settled my arse. That old man really lost it while I was sleeping."

"That is if you think he ever had it in the first place." Weasley smiled as he said it and Severus had tried to keep from snorting himself.

Granger shook her head. "I can't get over it all, Ron. Five years. You look…"

"Smarter?"

"Older."

Weasley laughed. "Yeah, well time does that to a person."

"Not me." Granger put the bottle down and huddled into herself. "I look the same. Not even a scar." She held her hand up and examined it in front of her. "There should be a scar. Scars show you've lived."

Weasley silently nodded. "Yeah, but some scars don't show up that easy. You were lucky, Hermione. You didn't have to see it all. It was bad. Real bad. We thought we'd all die there for a while. We were sure Voldemort was going to win." The boy didn't even stumble over the name but Granger cringed.

"Lucky?" She whispered. "This is not lucky."

Weasley looked hard at her. "Maybe you're right. But still, we'll get you through this somehow Herm. There has got to be something for you out there."

She'd snorted. "What? I can't just get a job, Ron. Who would hire me? I can't go back home, Mom and Dad don't even know they have a daughter. I tried to find a way to safely reverse the Obliviate. There isn't one."

"So you make one."

Granger shook her head. "Not everything can be fixed like that. It's not like brewing a Polyjuice potion in the bathroom. This is more delicate. This isn't a prank gone wrong or a simple adventure. If I calculated wrong, they'd die."

Weasley looked sheepish and didn't press the point. Instead he took her hand and pulled her head down onto his lap. She let him, but she appeared ready to bolt should he startle her further. "I didn't go you know." Granger lay perfectly still and listened. "Harry wanted me to be his best man, but I said no. It was too soon and I … I never believed you were dead. I couldn't believe it. Not even after Snape brought back proof. I couldn't let you go." The red head paused and ran his fingers through her hair. "Mum didn't talk to me for a year. Ginny was mad, but I think she understood. Bill yelled for an hour. 'How could you not even go to your sister's wedding.' But he got over it. Charley didn't go either. He had to work though."

Severus expected Granger to start crying but she just laid there, silent.

"We'll get through this, Herm. Together we can get through anything."

Granger sat up but kept her hand in Weasley's. "You are the only one to come and see me, Ron. I thought everyone had forgotten me."

He smiled. "Never."

Granger gave a sad smile in return and put her head on his shoulder. "Why did you have to be the gay one?"

Severus almost revealed himself at that. Weasley was gay?

The boy had simply chuckled and shrugged, knocking her head off. "Don't ask me. It's not like I asked to be. I still haven't had the courage to tell the family."

Granger sat up. "It's been six years since you told me!"

Weasley blushed. "I'm still not use to the fact, okay? It's not normal."

Granger rolled her eyes. "You need a backbone. Fred and George are gay."

"And you should have seen mum's reaction." Weasley imitated a highly aggravated Molly Weasley by holding his breath till his face turned tomato red and then he started pulling at his hair. Granger didn't laugh but she smiled. Weasley stopped and pulled her back down into his lap. "Tell you what. I'll tell mum if you come over for dinner when I do it."

She'd gone stiff. "I can't Ron. Please…"

Weasley ran his hand through her hair again. "Then they'll have to just keep wondering about why I never have a girl friend. And why I've been living with Neville for two years."

"You finally…"

"Yeah."

"Good."

Snape had left at that point. The two were starting to do more than slur their words and he had no desire to watch them vomit all over one another. But the encounter had stayed on his mind.

He had just finished his second glass of scotch, still fighting his memories, when a loud banging broke the quiet of the room. He sneered and tried to hex whom ever it was through the door. It only succeeded in making his caller angrier, and louder. Sighing, he got up and glared out the door at…McGonagall. Joy of joys.

"Minerva, it is late. Go away." He tried to slam the door. She put her foot inside and shoved her way in.

"It is only ten o'clock and we need to talk."

He eyed her suspiciously. "About what?"

She sat down without being asked. In his chair. He fingered his wand and reminded himself that scorching the chair wouldn't be worth it.

"I need you to talk to Albus for me. He won't listen to me on the matter. You might have more luck. For some reason he seems to be favoring you of late."

Snape snorted. Since the end of the war, McGonagall hadn't let up once on the Slytherins. She was supporting every anti-Slytherin legislation that came up and she terrorized pureblood students of his house to no end. Albus was getting tired of it. He'd privately confided in Severus that if Minerva didn't get rid of her blinders, she'd never make Headmistress – especially since the Headmaster always chose his successor. Snape had no real desire to work under Filtwick, but it would be better than the demon-cat in front of him. And safer for his bank accounts. Minerva would fire him in an instant.

He took a seat on the sofa and glared at her. "What are you trying to push past him now? I have no intention of letting you put a locator charm on all of my students and you know it." Minerva had proposed just such a thing the week before in a staff meeting.

The elderly woman rolled her eyes. "Of course you wouldn't help me with _that_. But this is something I think you'd _love_ to see happen."

"Albus kill Fudge in the middle of Diagon Alley with a tickling charm? And then moving on to Potter with a nasty transfiguration into a fig tree?"

"Where do you come up with these things?" She shook her head. "No. I think it's time we moved Hermione Granger somewhere more suitable. She doesn't belong here and her presence is disturbing the students. She isn't a staff member and she's not paying for her room and board. It's a strain on all of us to keep watch on her as well."

"A strain on you. Personally, I think the girl's fully capable of looking after herself."

"She's one inch from being as bad as the Longbottoms. Poor dears." Minerva sniffed and Severus snorted. The woman was so fake.

"So where do you want to send her? She can't go 'home'."

"Why St. Mungos of course. They will be able to help her with whatever it is that is troubling her."

"Several weeks of torture and the end to her life as she knew it is what's troubling her." Severus stood up and grabbed McGonagall by the arm and started dragging her to the door. "Annoying as she was and is, we have a responsibility to her. Granger isn't a danger to this school and she certainly doesn't belong next to Alice and Frank Longbottom. Now get out of my room and get your head examined. Batty old hag." Severus pushed her out and cursed the door closed. He hated that woman with a passion. If she wanted Granger gone, by Merlin he'd make sure she was here to stay. If only to annoy the old bat. At least Umbridge had had a reason for being such a bitch.

The next morning Severus was called to a staff meeting. He cursed his luck, downed a pot of coffee in ten minutes flat, and scowled all the way to the staff lounge. The first thing he noticed when he entered was the almost chipper look on McGonagall's face and the lack of the twinkle on Albus'. Then he realized the entire staff was already assembled and that they appeared to be finished with the meeting. His suspicions grew as Minerva smirked at him.

"Severus, you just made it in time for us to leave." She sneered. Albus looked dejected, as did most of the staff. Something was defiantly afoot.

"I only received your owl twenty minutes ago. I had no way to know about the meeting faster." He took his seat and waited to hear her excuse. She had called the meeting and thus it was her responsibility to notify them.

She didn't even give him the curtsey of blinking. "Something must have delayed the owl." She shrugged. "But really it wouldn't have mattered. The vote went my way by two anyway."

Severus' blood ran cold. "What vote?" The newest Ministry regulation, supported by McGonagall herself, stated that any discussion by the headmaster could be overturned by a faculty vote. What horrendous plan had just passed without him there to intimidate the younger staff?

Albus sighed and answered the question. "The staff has voted to remove Hermione to St. Mungos. I tried to changer their minds, but it seems several of them are disturbed by her and fear her presence might be a danger to the school."

Severus made eyes contact with everyone one by one. Lupin, who had taken over the DADA post when Potter refused it, appeared just as upset by the vote as Albus. Flitwich was unreadable. Trelawney looked happy as did Vector. Severus leveled his full glare at the Arithmancy professor. "Why vote against her? She was one of your best students."

Vector shuffled in her seat. "Really, Severus, she's not well. She never talks and she's beginning to scare the students. All she does is lurk about."

"Have you even tried to start a conversation with her? She seems to be more than happy to respond if you initiate."

Minerva jumped in. "Don't bother, Severus. The vote has been cast. You're too late. I already called St. Mungos. Someone will be by for her within the hour."

Snape angrily stood. "Over my dead body." He stormed out of the room. Students were swarming in the hallway getting ready for their first class of the day. He ignored them and made his way toward Granger's room.

He didn't bother to knock, he just pulled his wand and blasted the door open. He reached in and grabbed the girl by the wrist and started pulling her towards the staff who had followed him down the hall.

He turned to Granger and looked into her still blank eyes. Even the man handling hadn't seemed to penetrate her haze. "Granger, you have one hour to move your things to the dungeons. I'm taking you as my apprentice." She blinked at him. "Move!" He bellowed and she silently went back to her rooms and started packing.

Minerva started sputtering. "You…you can't…you can't do that!"

Albus positively smirked. "I believe he just did." Albus moved off down the hall, twinkling like mad. "I'll just go call and cancel her room in St. Mungos then." He called over his shoulder as he floated down towards his office and the flow connection.

Minerva gapped like a fish before storming off to her own classroom, scattering a group of ease dropping Slytherins as she went. Lupin approached Severus and smiled timidly. "Thank you, Severus. I didn't even think about doing that."

Severus eyed him carefully. Lupin shifted on his feet and started to move away. "Lupin," the werewolf stopped. "You will work with her on defense every Tuesday and Thursday night."

Lupin looked surprised but nodded. "If you wish, Severus. It will be my pleasure."

Snape nodded and headed down to the dungeons to make room for Granger in his quarters. He ignored the murmurs of the students he past on his way, and got to work. Luckily, his free period was first hour and he could avoid the flying rumors at least long enough for his morning coffee to kick in. He'd just linked the empty chambers next to his with his sitting room when Granger showed up with only a small bag. Of course, he thought, she wouldn't have much. All her original things had been destroyed. A hissing orange cat did jump out from behind her, however. Severus recognized the animal as the mangy cat Lupin had been taking care of since his arrival as DADA professor in Potter's seventh year.

"This is Crookshanks." Granger said flatly. "He was my familiar before…Professor Lupin took care of him while I was gone. He is all I have left." Snape nodded and helped her to her new room in silence. He'd had a cat once, when he was a boy. His father had killed it when he's failed to get top marks in his second year.

A soft knock interrupted them and Albus floated in. "Are you two alright?" Albus asked tiredly with a worried expression. He seemed to be floating lower than usual as well.

Hermione put her last robe, her third – black all of them, away and turned to the headmaster. Severus started. Her eyes were finally alive, alive with anger, but alive. "I'm fine, headmaster." She paused and glared at nothing in particular. "I have something to do now."

Albus started beaming. "Then you don't mind being apprenticed to Severus?"

She snorted. "Not in the slightest. But that wasn't what I was talking about." She pulled her wand out and flicked it at the room causing the dust to vanish and the furnishing to change from oak into mahogany. Albus had been true to his word and three days after she had awoken, Olivander had arrived with a trunk of wands. Her forth try had been a match. She flicked the wand again and empty bookcases appeared, covering almost every inch of open wall space.

"What did you mean then?" Albus took the bait. Severus smirked. He had a good idea Granger knew all about the circumstance behind her new position as his apprentice. And he had a sneaking suspicion she wasn't to pleased about them.

Granger gave a cold, heartless laugh and Albus' twinkle faltered for a moment. "I have a mission again, Headmaster. I plan on making one Minerva McGonagall's life a living hell. St. Mungos." She humphed and changed the bed hangings to black instead of green. "If she wanted me gone she could have asked me to leave. There was no need to try and commit me." She angrily swished her wand and the floor changed to wood instead of stone.

Albus gave a nervous chuckle. "Minerva has been a bit off lately. Don't take it personally my dear."

Severus snorted. "Lately? She's been crazy since the last battle. She's convinced that every student who's just a bit quiet or withdrawn is destined to be the next Dark Lord."

Granger rolled her eyes. "Figures."

Albus floated over to her and gently pulled her into a hug. She didn't cringe, but just like with Weasley, she appeared reedy to bolt. "Oh child, I'm sorry. The war was hard on us all, but Minerva and Vector haven't been able to move past it." The girl nodded and Albus slowly backed way.

"Severus, I'm canceling your classes for the day. I want you to help Hermione get settled and start figuring out her apprenticeship." Snape grudgingly nodded and the old wizard left after giving them both a large pile of lemon drops.

Severus stared at the silent girl for a moment. "Alright. First things first. You will be learning both potions and DADA. Lupin will cover Dark Creatures and anything else I don't feel like teaching you twice a week."

"Yes, Professor."

Snape paused. "I give you permission to call me Severus. Traditionally, apprentices and masters stay formal, but I refuse to hear nothing but 'master' and 'professor' in my own sitting room."

Granger smiled sadly. "Call me Hermione then please. I don't get to hear it enough anymore. The other professors always call me Miss Granger."

"Certainly, Hermione." He gave a cruel smile. "It will annoy Minerva." They both smirked.

On that note, things quickly settled into a pattern. Severus would rise late to find Hermione had set out a small breakfast for the two of them. Albus made an exception and let the potion master and his apprentice skip breakfast in the Great Hall. Severus was almost certain it was to annoy Minerva more than help Hermione. Which served his purposes all to well, and allowed him to sleep longer in the morning.   
After breakfast, the two would make their way to the classroom where Hermione would do all the prep work for the day's classes before settling herself down in a small desk to the far right of the lectern. She had a list of readings to work on till noon, and after lunch she would move onto the practical applications in the small workroom just off the main classroom. She had started taking the two later meals of the day in the Great Hall at the staff table, at Snape's instance. He was loath to push the Headmaster too far and lose the glorious extra half-hour of sleep missing breakfast allowed. Albus had shifted Severus' seat a bit so the girl was between him and Lupin on the Headmaster's right side. Minerva was none to happy about her seat being adjusted, moving her further away from the center, but she had not been able to offer much of a protest. 

On Tuesday and Thursday's, Lupin instructed Hermione on advanced Defense, but it quickly became apparent that the six months of 'inactivity' after her awakening had not been wasted. Combined with the work done during the early stages of the war to help prepare Potter for the inevitable, Hermione had managed to acquire more than her fair share of knowledge. Her work on Potions was also in earnest. Severus was hard pressed to find tasks for her that could challenge the girl. In all reality, she would have been able to sit for University level tests in both subjects before a single lesson with either professor.

Snape was not about to admit that, however. So, Severus kept giving her more and more readings, some of questionable topic. And Hermione kept her nose in the books and over the cauldron without a whimper of distress or complaint. And Snape kept his title as the youngest person to ever achieve the level of Potions Master.

Albus, for his part, watched the staff closely to see what they would make of the girl. After all, they had voted to send her to an insane asylum. But Vector and the others kept their peace, more out of fear of the potions master than anything else. Which suited the two men perfectly well. Yet, each day Severus watched as the Headmaster's health deteriorated. The constant magical strain was beginning to break down his body and his spirit. The normally vibrant blue eyes were shadowed and wary. The way Albus watched over Hermione, it seemed as though she was his last project. As if in her all things had to be made right. It was a depressing thought, and Severus tried his hardest not to dwell on the inevitable loss of his only mentor and friend.

All in all, Severus thought the situation was going well. He'd only caught the girl with a knife at her wrist once, and she'd dropped it before he'd had to step in. And her renewed vigor afterwards told him she'd decided to fight instead of giving up. And Potter's visit had gone better than he'd dreamed it could have.

Mr.-Ever-Sticking-His-Foot-In-It-Potter had shown up a month after Severus had taken Hermione as an apprentice. Things had been going smoothly, if not wonderfully, and he hadn't wanted to kill her more than a handful of times. It had been late on a Sunday evening, and the girl had just returned from making the necessary purchases for the next week's classes in Hogsmeade. She'd put down her packages and started to ask a question when there was a tentative knock on the door. Expecting to see one of his Slytherins in need of guidance, Snape had put on a mostly pleasant expression and opened the door.

Potter's smiling face greeted him. "Hello Professor. Is Hermione home?"

The door slammed shut without Snape touching it. He turned to find a glaring Hermione with her wand drawn and her hand trembling. "What the hell does he want?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "To answer that, I will need to be able to open the door again." Hermione blinked and slowly lowered her arm. Severus snorted and opened the door.

Potter was still standing outside, rubbing his nose, and looking for all the world like a thoroughly kicked puppy. It made Severus remember he needed more pickled dog tail.

Hermione crept up behind the potion master and he could feel her anger radiating through his thick robes.

"What do you think you are doing here, Potter?" She bit out, wand leveled at her former lover's throat over Snape's shoulder.

In what could only be considered a late blooming sign of intelligence, Potter swallowed tightly in fear and backed up a few feet.

"I…I thought we should talk, Herm."

"Ms. Granger." She glared harder and made no move to invite him in.

Potter's green eyes had dulled a bit and shuffled his foot. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? What was I supposed to do?"

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees and Snape's hair started to stand on end.

"What were you supposed to do?" Hermione's voice was a glacial hiss and Severus winced internally. "What were you supposed to do?" She moved past the Potions Master and stood nose to nose with Potter, wand now poking the man in his adam's apple. "You were not supposed to fuck my best friend! You were not supposed to marry her and live happily ever after! You jack ass! You were supposed to suffer just as much I as was!" She backed him out of the doorway and into the wall across the corridor. "You arrogant, unfeeling, big-headed, dick!"

Harry's eyes were large and slightly crossed as he stared down at the wand. The new wand had been delivered two days after her return to consciousness, willow with a dragon heart string – 13 inches. The same length as the old one, but more suited for hexes and curses. The innocence of youth gone. The connection seemed to be made in Potter's head as he realized the difference.

"You have a new wand." He stated in a higher voice than normal.

"New wand, new person." Hermione growled and pushed the tip harder into his throat. "Death will do that to you." In one smooth move she pulled away from the former Gryffindor and back into the front room. Snape made to close the door, but Potter put his foot in the way, stopping it from closing.

"Wait, Hermione, we still haven't talked! I missed you so much."

Hermione didn't turn around. Her hands clinched into fists at her sides and her voice was low and barely audible. "First you forget me in a matter of weeks, and now you'd leave your family to come back? It doesn't work that way, Potter. I gave everything I had to keep you safe, and you didn't even have the decency to honor my memory enough to keep from repeating the same mistake. I was giving up my future to give you a family. And you took not only that, but Ginny's as well. Get out. Give her the best you can and think about what you took from her, from me. And go to hell." There was a flash of bright purple light and Potter was thrown out of the doorway. He hit the corridor wall hard enough to leave a bloody spot on the rock as he slide down. The door banged shut with an ominous clang. Hermione's breath hitched for a moment before she closed her eyes and gained composer back.

"Why don't I feel for him anymore?" She whispered, turning her large brown eyes to her master in question.

Snape put the thought of Potter bleeding to death out of his mind and made a non-committal sound. "To change is to be human." He shrugged slightly and whisked out of the room headed for his private lab. Over his shoulder he called out, "I want the twenty inches on the potential for flobberworm secretions in bioregulation potions by the end of dinner tonight."

"Yes, Severus." She answered back in a pleasant tone and Snape smirked. The girl was going to be more than alight.

Snape made it to his lab without his step faltering. Once there, he spared a moment to make sure Potter wasn't dead outside his door. He really didn't want to bother with all the Ministry paperwork. Poppy was loading the worthless breathing carcass onto a stretcher from the looks of things in the security mirror he kept charmed to show the corridor. Satisfied, Snape pulled out an empty cauldron and stared at it for several minutes till he decided what to make.

Dinner that evening had been quiet. The castle inhabitants had all heard about Potter's little accident and the students and staff all seemed to agree that it would be best to not aggravate Hermione. Minerva looked like the cat that ate the canary but then had it snatched away and Snape scowled. The Deputy Headmistress had predicted Hermione would turn violent. She'd gone to the Headmaster and demanded Hermione's removal. Albus had refused, of course, but Minerva had a new piece of evidence in her mounting campaign against her former student.

The silence at the table was heavy, and Hermione finished as quickly as she could before excusing herself. Snape followed immediately and they both walked to the dungeons solemnly. When they reached their rooms, Severus purred them both a large tumbler of brandy and they sat down before the fire. The girl's eyes were clouded and Snape waited for her speak with a level of patience he wasn't aware he had.

"You know, at least I managed to ruin his life." Hermione's smug voice was a bit of a shock when it came. Snape raised an eyebrow in question and Hermione gave a bitter laugh. "Do you know why he became a muggle weather man?"

Snape shook his head no and sipped his drink. He'd wondered about that. It was a stupid choice for the boy, and had never made any since. Potter didn't seem to enjoy the work either.

Hermione's laugh turned even colder before she smirked and sipped her drink in turn. "I made a joke the day I left to go home of the holidays. I said he should be a weatherman because that way he'd be known in both worlds and he could become a bridge of understanding. It was a joke. It was a stupid, flippant, joke."

Snape's laugh was just as bitter. "So instead of waiting to have a torrid affair with Weasley, he chose to honor your memory by taking your suggestion."

Hermione turned to him and smiled cruelly. "If I'd known that, I would have suggested he become a muggle sanitation worker, to clean up both worlds."

Snape smirked. "Really, why not go for it. Personally, I think he'd make a wonderful poster boy for the self-castration movement."

Hermione giggled and Snape stared at her. That was the first time he'd ever heard someone giggle at anything he'd said.

"We should work as a team sometime, Severus."

"I doubt the world is ready for a new Order just yet." Severus quipped and then let a rare smile slip onto his face.

So, in all, the Potter incident had gone well. In the three months since, the snot had not dared to show his face. Snape had thought it would have been harder for her to confront the arrogant prick, when it came. He'd honestly expected Potter to pull something of the sort, and offer to take Hermione back. And a part of him had expected her to go. He was oddly proud that she had hexed the boy instead. Inordinately proud.

The girl reminded him, oddly enough, of Lily Evans. Her strength, her resolve, was the same. For a time, he'd hopped to see those things in Potter. But it appeared that Lily really was dead and gone. Not even a ghost of her remained to haunt him. Beyond the color of his eyes, Harry Potter was nothing like his mother. The Potter blood had reigned supreme. And in that, Lily had died a second death. Perhaps if the war had not come, or things had been different, Severus stopped that thought.

He had loved her, his Lily. She had thought nothing of him beyond a friendly ear. Someone that could understand what it was like to be outside things. A mudblood with a Slytherin outcaste for a shoulder to cry on. No one could have expected how much they would have in common. And he'd loved her, in his own way. He'd never lusted after her. She had been beyond that in his eyes. No, her company had always been enough. Her voice like the beating of angles wings.

And then they'd gone from him in a flight of feathery despair. She'd seen the proof of his stupidly, blazed on his arm. His mistake. His choice. His destiny, written in the tarnished black of hatred.

Those green eyes had teared, as that voice begged him to say his father had forced him. She'd have believed him if he'd said it. But he'd never been able to lie to her, and he'd said nothing. And she'd fled. She'd fled to Potter and her death.

But he could still remember her strength. Her soul was in his apprentice – perhaps even literally. Reborn in another mudblood. A girl that could live the life Lily had been denied. And so Hermione was blessed and cursed. She had all the same tenacity and resolve that Lily had, of that Severus was sure. Yet both had fallen prey to a Potter. Only this time, Hermione had survived.

Severus sighed and added a bit of powered nightshade to the brew in front of him. This time, he would personally make sure things went differently. He would not let this remarkable young thing fall to the same darkness that had consumed her predecessor, nor the darkness that had taken him.


	6. Come with a Whoop, and Come with a Call

**Rise Up O Flame**

Author: Saavik

Disclaimer:

I do not own these characters. I do own the plot, the dialogue, and everything else I can get my grubby little hands on.

Summary:

Sequel to Where're You Make a Promise. What do you do when you've been gone for five years and the world has changed? What do you do when your only love has left you? How do you cope with being a relic of a past everyone wishes to forget? How do you live when you have nothing? AU: Does not take books 6 & 7 into consideration.

Pairings:

HG/HP, HP/GW, HG/SS, RW/NL

Warnings:

Death, Dark Arts, Torture, Bitterness, Rape, Depression, and Homicidal Tendencies.

* * *

Chapter Five: Come with a Whoop, and Come with a Call

It was the fall of 2008 when Severus Snape buried his only friend. Albus Dumbledore died peacefully in his sleep a victim of nothing more heinous than old age. Severus stood by the grave side, his black robes snapping in the wind and his soon to be former apprentice the appropriate distance behind and to the side of him. Her new teaching robes were pressed and ready in her rooms and tomorrow she would take her place as the Potions Professor for Hogwarts and in a week's time her status as a Potion Mistress would be official. When the current ceremony ended Severus would return not to the quarters he had made his own for most of his life but to his mentor's hollowed rooms at the peak of the castle. Albus had left not only his worldly goods but his title of Headmaster to his younger, darker friend.

Oh, they'd had their problems. Severus mussed darkly. Albus wasn't perfect and the fact Severus could recognize that had endeared him to the old man. They'd argue frequently and Severus would generally hex before he'd apologize even when he knew he was wrong, but Albus would always come back.

He wouldn't be coming back anymore.

The air was heavy with rain that just refused to fall and the wind that whipped around the small cluster of black robed mourners was thick and damp. Severus couldn't help but reflect that the least the universe could have done was turn out a fair day for the old coot's funereal. Albus wasn't one to enjoy the dismal and he'd have wanted even his death to be a light and boisterous affair. Severus had argued for it, but the rest of the staff had refused. They just couldn't see how a dance and a feast was fitting for a funeral. Albus would have loved it, Snape thought bitterly. The whole Great Hall crawling with children blinded by childhood crushes, all the innocent first kisses, hands wandering a bit during dances… It always made the old man gitty to see the young ones falling in love. The fact that Severus Snape, the evil git of the dungeons, would have been throwing it would have iced the headmaster's cake. The other professors didn't seem to find it amusing enough to allow and instead insisted on the somber and traditional service that had just ended. They denied Severus a last chance to do something meaningful for his friend, a truth Severus wasn't about to forgive easily.

McGonagall was there, her black mourning robes primly pressed and starched. He sneered in her general direction and she glared back harshly before snorting and looking away. Severus acknowledged he was being uncharitable in his treatment of her on this day – he just didn't care. She had known Albus far longer than he had and she too had been friends with the lemon drop nightmare. Granted, they had not gotten along so well since the war, but the number of years they had worked side by side as friends far outweighed the last few strained ones. Severus would admit to all those things, but he wasn't about to stop hating her just for Albus' sake. It hadn't happened during the man's life and it certainly wasn't going to happen now he was dead. The Gryffindor Head was crying, Severus noted without much pity. Her tears weren't alone and he saw no reason to forgive her past sins because she cried over a dead man. If she'd really cared she would have made his last few years peaceful instead of fighting him at every turn.

It had come as a shock to most of the Wizarding World when news spread that not only had the Headmaster passed, but that the Deputy Headmistress was not able to mount the revolving staircase. Only the new Headmaster or Mistress would be able to do that. When Snape unhesitantly climbed onto the bottom step and it began its slow movement the entire staff of Hogwarts had nearly passed out on the spot. Hermione had giggled; her smile was the last thing he saw as he disappeared into his new office for the first time.

Now, three days later, the shock was somewhat less pronounced. The Board of Governors had been unable to overturn Snape's appointment, thanks in no small part to the large amount of blackmail material he and Draco Malfoy had collected over the last several years, and there was little left to debate. They only had to bury Albus and move on.

Snape didn't want to move on. In truth he had as much reason to hate Albus Dumbledore as to respect him. In the end it was the old man's slavish devotion to Hermione that had made the balance tip decisively in his favor. Severus hadn't intended to become attached to the woman but in the course of her five year apprenticeship he'd begun to respect her. The woman had a sharp mind, that he'd known. Her ability to adapt to all that had happened, however, was a surprise. Severus knew she'd needed someone to talk to and befriend but he'd had no intention of filling that role himself. Albus had stepped into it gracefully and Severus had no doubt that in her mind Hermione thought of the elderly wizard as a sort of grandfather. Albus had set aside his manipulations and his conniving and given the young woman genuine affection and she had been intelligent enough to appreciate it.

Severus eyed Hermione carefully as she placed her offering of candy into the grave, ignoring the looks of the others gathered as her brightly colored confections took their place along side their flowery additions. She had fairly blossomed during her apprenticeship, finding both a purpose and a joy in Potions and surprisingly in teaching. She had great promise as a Professor and a bright future at Hogwarts, especially now that Severus was Headmaster.

McGonagall had never apologized to the girl or attempted to be anything other than the harpy Severus always knew she was. As far as her old Head of House was concerned Hermione Granger had committed treason by accepting an apprenticeship with Severus Snape. McGonagall's attitude had even damaged her relationship with the Creevy boy and caused him to cut his apprentice short and accept an offer to teach at Durmstrang of all places. For a muggleborn that was desperation and showed how bitter McGonagall must have become. Creevy had always gotten on well with Hermione and had tried to be her friend. This had frequently put him at odds with McGonagall. Severus secretly thought the Gryffindor Head's behavior was all down to wounded pride. If she didn't get Hermione as an apprentice, no one should.

The final blow that forever ended any chance of civil relations between the two women had happened three weeks before Albus' death. Severus had been on a two day trip gathering ingredients for an experimental potion they were planning on brewing and Hermione had been filling in for him during the handful of scedualed classes he would miss. Severus was the only Slytherin on staff besides the incompetent waste of air that was now in charge of Ancient Runes, and so as much as he loathed doing so he had informed his charges that should there be any problems to go to his apprentice. He'd been gone less than three hours when the aurors arrived.

McGonagall had tipped them off that the Head of Slytherin would be gone and with Albus' condition deteriorating there would be no one around to stop them from interrogating the students and searching Hogwart's dungeons. They hadn't counted on the know-it-all Gryffindor. Hermione had met them at the entrance to the Slytherin dormitories and stood her ground. She faced the four aurors down the same way she'd once faced down a horde of Death Eaters – wand in hand and a spell on her lips. If the stories could believed, and Snape had been sure to use Vertiserum, she'd not only hexed and cursed them out of the castle she'd gone so far as to magically bar them from ever entering the grounds again – a little trick Albus had shown her one rainy evening.

McGonagall had nearly had a stroke when she heard that her former star pupil had stopped the raid cold. Snape, for his part, had returned to Hogwarts to find Slytherin House in a tizzy and a banner hanging in the Common Room announcing the addition of one Hermione Granger as an honorary Slytherin for her unexpected and quite amusing defense of the Snakes. He'd almost had a stroke himself.

Albus, when he'd learned all the details, had placed McGonagall on probation and given Hermione a letter of appreciation. It was his last official act as Headmaster.

Now they were done with the old man's funeral.

Severus lingered next to the grave as the others all slowly turned back to Hogwarts. The wind was turning his nose numb but he did not want to go back to the warm rooms his friend had left him. He didn't want to be surrounded by things that only Albus could love. He didn't want to empty out the last of the lemon drops from the desk to replace them with parchments and quills. He didn't want to hang his black robes where the sparkling colorful ones use to go. He didn't want to sleep in the plush bed and remember that only a few days ago his only friend had died there.

Snape jumped as a warm hand gently touched his arm. He wrenched his gaze away from the open grave to catch the somber and watery eyes of his apprentice looking up at him with chocolaty sympathy in the brown depths. "Professor, are you alright?"

He nodded slowly. "Yes, Hermione, I'm alright." She didn't move her hand and he hesitantly reached his free one over to pat it. "You'll be a Potion Mistress soon and a Professor here yourself. He would have liked to see it, I know it's what kept him going towards the end. It is pity he did not make it."

Hermione followed his gaze back to the open grave. "He knew it was coming and that the date for the ceremony was set. That will have to be good enough."

Snape nodded before scowling. "We had better get inside before that tartan banshee starts up another of her tirades. The student's are in enough of a state already." He looked down at the woman by his side and couldn't help but be grateful that at least there was one person left at Hogwarts that would talk to him. "Hermione?"

"Yes Professor?" She asked, a shiver from the cold making her teeth clatter.

He looked down at her and realized with a start that he might be looking at someone else with the potential to be a 'friend' once the nature of their roles allowed it. Now that Albus was gone that would mean all he really had left was Draco. One alley, even one as good as Draco, was stretching resources rather thin. Decision made, Severus forced a neutral expression onto his face. "You may now call me Severus if you like. We'll be working together soon enough and your apprenticeship is almost over. There is little reason to carry on with the formality. Albus always hated it anyway."

She smiled at him as they turned back towards the castle. "I'd be honored, Severus." She meant it, he could tell.

It didn't take long for Severus to understand what a monumental task Albus had left him. The school was in shambles. With his health fading, Dumbledore had been unable to keep Minerva reigned in. She'd instituted wide sweeping policies that reminded Severus of Umbridge more than his long time colleague. Things were going to have to change in that department and quickly.

It didn't help that as the only Slytherin on staff Codswold was now Head of Slytherin. Salazar had to be turning in his grave. How that simpering mentally challenged baboon ever even got sorted into the great House of Slytherin was a mystery. Severus had a mind to solve it and fix what had to be a glitch in the Sorting Hat. The travesty couldn't be allowed to repeat.

Severus spent the last few weeks of term sorting through the mess and trying to get Codswold whipped into something resembling a shape. It was hopeless. The Slytherin's wouldn't even give the man a chance and Severus couldn't blame them. Officially, Codswold was Head of Slytherin House. Unofficially, Hermione Granger was acting Head. This should have made Severus not only uncomfortable, but nearly murderous. As it was, he was planning on spending the summer reading up on long forgotten Hogwarts policy for a loophole that would allow a non-Slytherin to act as Head officially. Her blood status was not really a concern. The students seemed to have forgotten she was muggleborn and he wasn't about to remind them.

The only bright spot in the whole mess was that Draco had yet again proved he was worth his weight in gold. Minerva McGonagall was being forced to resign, thanks in great part to a small document that suddenly reappeared after being lost for nearly two decades – reappeared in a certain Unspeakable's office mind, but reappeared none the less. According to this document, McGonagall had been hit with a nasty dark hex while out in Hogsmeade, a hex that could have long term effects. It seemed, according to the document, that Dumbledore had covered the attack up, believing that if news of her predicament were to be made public the parent's of the children would demand her removal. Since the attack had been motivated by her connection to the old man, he'd seen it as his duty to protect her reputation.

Severus smiled coldly as he sipped his tea and glanced through the Daily Profit article outlining the current Deputy's condition. The hex was intended to cause minimal initial damage. Its main purpose was to cause a slow and irreversible leaching of mental capabilities, rendering the victim slowly and agonizingly incompetent. The Gryffindor Head's erratic behavior towards Hermione was a perfect example of the long term effects. McGonagall was still in the early stages, where paranoia and jealousy were exaggerated. Eventually she wouldn't be able to think logically at all, unable to problem solve and completely helpless at nearly all tasks involving higher brain function. She'd be no better than a simpering child before she died –most likely of old age. The curse was, of course, non-lethal for all its darkness. Severus found the irony of the situation highly amusing if truth be told.

Draco had found, and leaked, the original case report the auror had filed when McGonagall was found lying in the street. Dumbledore had most likely magically kept it hidden. Upon his death, whatever spell he'd used had dissolved. (Severus wasn't going to examine that story to closely. If Draco had somehow managed to fake the report he'd really rather not know. Plausible deniability and all that.) Unfortunately for McGonagall the press had leaped at the story, exaggerating the state of her condition and making it appear that rather than being in the very beginning stages she was well on her way to a bed in the long term care ward at St. Mungos.

Of course the press was highly considerate of her plight despite their fervor. The outpouring of sympathy and grief in the magical community was immense. The Board of Governors was forced to remove her for her own good, so she could rest. The fact that they'd had to drag her kicking and screaming out the door didn't strike Severus as all that restful but who was he to judge? Severus smirked. Oh yes, things were looking up.

He only had a few more little problems to deal with and he could retire for the evening. Classes were over, students were gone, the bitch was sacked, and now he only had to deal with Codswold and the now vacant position in his staff. Severus scowled at the letter in his hand before reluctantly giving it to the owl sitting on the window. Creevy was competent, despite the fact that he was trained by the Scottish nightmare. It would appease the woman's fans if the boy was offered the position and it would harm the school little. The owl flew off into the gathering darkness with the job offer attached and Severus sighed as he lost sight of the creature.

Twice today he'd done the unthinkable. Just now he offered Creevy a job and earlier he'd given Lupin the position as Deputy and Head of Gryffindor. As much as he disliked the mutt, Lupin was reasonably proficient at his job of teaching DADA. The students in Gryffindor seemed to relate to him. The man was organized and careful in everything he did. He was born to be an administrator really. Severus scowled to himself. Some people had all the luck.

He turned back to his desk and picked up his quill to mark another slash through his list of tasks to complete. Assuming Creevy accepted the position they'd have a full staff next year with only two new teachers, and Hermione could hardly count as new. The girl had been teaching classes for him for years giving him a chance to do research and collect ingredients- something he'd desperately wanted to do more of and never seemed to have time for. She was ready. Creevy had survived teaching at Durmstrang so it was reasonable to assume he could handle Hogwarts. Perhaps his first full year as Headmaster would be less trying than the last few months had been.

The Ministry of course was still a problem. Most of the changes McGonagall had implemented had M.o.M. approval. It would stand to reason that if too many were cut too quickly they would bulk. While they could not forcibly remove him, they had already tried, they could make his life a living hell. Some of the regulations would have to stand. The Slytherins would still not be allowed Hogsmeade trips without gaining Ministry passes. Owls could still be intercepted and censored. There would be no Floo communication allowed. The Restricted Section was now not only restricted but forbidden to all students. The list was long but the reality was with McGonagall gone things had to get better. Severus wasn't naturally given to optimism but at some point Albus had forced him to see the reality that at the darkest times things _had_ to get better – or you died. Either way you got a little relief.

Severus went to bed that night with those thoughts on his mind only to wake up the next day with a headache and a stiff shoulder. He went down to the Great Hall for breakfast and took his new seat at the head nodding at Lupin and scowling at Codswold. Hermione swept in not far behind taking her seat at his side.

Lupin nodded at her and grinned, a piece of bacon hanging precariously off his fork as he waved it in her general direction. "Good morning, Hermione! I must say it's nice to have you here officially now that you're a full fledge Potion Mistress instead of just Severus' apprentice." Lupin smiled kindly at the girl but Hermione scowled back.

"Glad to see someone's happy about it. The little brats haven't been gone 24 hours yet and I've had three owls already from parents complaining about their 'little darlings' marks. Honestly, I can't fix stupid!" She snorted angrily and glared at her plate as it filled with food. "How do you stand it?"

Lupin looked a little confused and Severus smirked. "Hermione, welcome to the land of teaching. The creatons ignore you, the parents yell at you, your colleagues lack understanding, and the hours or horrendous." He eyed his plate carefully. "At least the food is satisfactory." He heard Poppy laugh from down the table and Lupin looked even more confused.

"Why would they owl you about their marks? I mean, you only taught the last few weeks. Shouldn't they be complaining to Severus?"

Hermione turned slowly in her seat and focused her glare at Lupin causing the werewolf to sink slowly in his chair. "He redirected them."

"oh." Lupin glanced back and forth between Severus and Hermione before swallowing thickly. "So why am I getting glared at?"

"You're here" the two responded at the same time causing the entire table to burst out laughing. Severus rolled his eyes. Things always were better without students.

Just at that thought left his head an owl swooped into the hall and dropped a letter right into his tea. Scowling, Severus picked it up and dried it with a quick charm. It was from Creevy. The boy's one word answer caused Severus to curse loudly.

"What is it?" Hermione asked and Lupin grabbed the paper. "Ah." Hermione sighed as she read the large printed NO. "He turned you down."

Severus nearly growled. "Anyone have any ideas for an acceptable Transfiguration teacher? One that will keep the Ministry and the Press from drowning us in their drivel?"

There was silence until Lupin let out a low whistle. "I think I've got a solution for you, Severus, but you aren't going to like it." The Gryffindor head turned to Hermione. "What's Ron up to these days?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow before a slightly evil smirk took over. "Oh, nothing much. I think he might be persuaded to come." She turned and looked at Severus, her eyes twinkling disturbingly. "Ron's got Transfiguration training, Professor. Ministry approved and he's a Gryffindor."

Severus rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Will you handle it, Lupin? Too much time talking to Weasley's always gives me indigestion."

Lupin chuckled. "I'll apparate over to see him this afternoon."

Hermione snorted. "Warning. It'll be a packaged deal. If you get Ron you're going to have to find something to do with Neville."

Poppy's head perked up. "Neville Longbottom? Didn't he finish his clinical at St. Mungo's last year?"

Hermione nodded. "He's a certified medi-wizard believe it or not."

"Remind me not to get injured for the next few centuries." Severus mumbled under his breath only to be ignored.

"Wonderful." Poppy beamed. "Pomona and I have both been talking about how we could use a little help these days. Albus had set aside a little in the budget so we could hire an assistant for the infirmary and to take care of the greenhouses we use for in-house potions. Now that Minerva's gone there'll be left over money from her salary since Remus here doesn't have as many years in. We can afford a full medi-wizard and Neville would be perfect."

Hermione smirked. "I'm sure they will agree then."

That seemed to settle it. Without even having a say, Severus now found his staff gaining two Gryffindors for the price of one.


	7. Come with a Good Will or Not at All

**Rise Up O Flame**

Author: Saavik

Disclaimer:

I do not own these characters. I do own the plot, the dialogue, and everything else I can get my grubby little hands on.

Summary:

Sequel to Where're You Make a Promise. What do you do when you've been gone for five years and the world has changed? What do you do when your only love has left you? How do you cope with being a relic of a past everyone wishes to forget? How do you live when you have nothing? AU: Does not take books 6 & 7 into consideration.

Pairings:

HG/HP, HP/GW, HG/SS, RW/NL

Warnings:

Death, Dark Arts, Torture, Bitterness, Rape, Depression, and Homicidal Tendencies.

* * *

**Chapter Six: Come with a Good Will or Not at All**

_2 Years Pass: 2010_

Finally it happened. Two years after Dumbledore's death the little Potter Prince arrived at Hogwarts. Severus watched him enter the hall with the other first years, Remus bringing the pack in. He wasn't as small as his father had been, but he wasn't quite up to James' size either. The boy was positively scrawny. His green eyes were darting all over the room, fear clearly reflected behind the wire frames that sat squarely on his freckled nose. The mass of dark red hair that stood out around his head made him look like a feral child.

From his seat, Ronald Weasley was watching the boy with concern, obviously aware how fragile James looked and the werewolf stood close to him, offering emotional support it seemed. Severus heard as well as felt Hermione's snort next to him as she took in the child. It was clear she wasn't impressed with her first sight of him.

Perhaps time had made him less inclined to be bitter, or perhaps the combination of Lily's eyes with the Weasley hair made the child less of a an annoyance, but Severus didn't think there was an ounce of the Potter spirit in the snot nosed brat. He was nearly soiling his robes as he waited for his name to be called. No, that child didn't have a backbone to speak of.

"Potter, James." Remus called and the little boy walked slowly up the steps and sat on the stool so gradually it looked as if he feared it would bite.

"Hufflepuff!" The hat called loudly and the entire Great Hall burst out in laughter. Ronald's face fell for a moment before he forced a wide grin.

The child sunk into himself and slipped off the stool in disgrace, his eyes never even rising to catch his uncle's moment of weakness. His housemates patted him on the back as he took his seat, offering support, but when the green eyes finally glanced up at him, Severus saw the disappointment and anger in them. For the first time in history he smiled at a newly sorted non-Slytherin and the boy gave a small nervous smile back. Lily's smile.

It helped that he looked the spitting image of his mother at that age. Ginny Weasley's shyness and Lily Evans smile had Severus forgetting for a moment that the boy was Harry Potter's son.

The only concession to the Potter line were the horrible glasses. James Potter was such a perfect mesh of Lily and a Weasley that despite his best efforts Severus couldn't hate the child. He was clearly not the James Potter he was named after, nor the misbegotten imbecile that sired him, and Severus felt sorry for the scared little boy as he sat at the table and picked at his food to upset to even converse with his housemates. It was a unique experience, feeling sorry for a child, and Severus wasn't sure he liked it.

Hermione Granger hated James Potter the second he walked in the door and made no attempt to hide it. She sat and glared through the entire feast, her eyes nearly burning holes in the Hufflepuff table.

Before every sorting Snape made sure he knew what children would likely receive criticism should they be sorted to certain houses. He was careful to limit their mail for the first few weeks in case family members decided they needed to heap abuse on the new Slytherin, or Hufflepuff, or occasional Gryffindor. Luck was truly with Ravenclaw since most wizarding families were happy enough with that sorting.

So the next day when a letter arrived for James at breakfast Severus had already intercepted the owl and read the contents. James opened it with trembling fingers and Snape smirked into his morning tea.

It seemed that Potter's stupidity did not extend to blaming his son for his House, thank Merlin. The letter was entirely cheery in nature, full of congratulations and stories about wonderful Hufflepuff's that had fought in the war. In all, Snape was reluctantly willing to admit it was a good letter. Any disapointment Potter had about his son's sorting wasn't even hinted at. It was interesting that the boy's mother hadn't signed it....

Little James flashed the letter around the table, eager to share his father's war stories. Most of his previous animosity was gone now that he knew his famous father didn't care what House his son was in. In seconds the shyness from the sorting was being brushed aside for the exuberance of youth and Severus had to admit it would have been wonderful had his own first morning at Hogwarts been started with a similar letter.

Next to Severus, Hermione's goblet shattered she was clutching it so tightly.

In previous years Severus had delighted in making sure Hermione's first class of the day was first years. He knew she'd instill the proper sense of discipline into the lot and that he could count on her enjoying herself as she did so. An amused Granger was a happy Granger and the last two years had proven that terrorizing first years was as much a joy for her as it had always been for him.

By lunch he was regretting keeping to that traditional schedule.

She's made the Potter boy cry so hard Sprout had had to personally retrieve the boy from the potions room and take him to the infirmary. When Snape arrived all the boy could do was stutter out pleas not to tell his father that he'd reacted that badly to the Potion's Master. Evidently Potter had had the presence of mind to warn his son that there might be some awkwardness there, but Ginny Weasley had assured her little one that Hermione was always a pleasant even tempered soul.

Obviously Weasley had taken leave of her senses. Of course, her involvement with Potter was rather proof of that.

Never known to be all that conciliatory to Hufflepuffs, it was with great surprise that Snape found himself with a tiny red-eyed companion for tea. James was awed by the portraits in the headmaster's office and Dumbledore's likeness instantly bonded to the small thing. Severus left the boy alone while Albus filled his head with all sorts of stories, most involving his uncles Fred and George. Clearly, the boy was hero worshiping the jokesters. At least, Severus conceded, they made a decent living. The boy could do worse.

Hermione's treatment of the child did not improve as the semester wore on and it was being to try his patience. For the first time Severus admitted he was beginning to feel sympathy for all Albus had to put up with when Severus was the potion master. Little James was in the office weekly for some offense or another Granger had caught him at. The most recent of which was breathing to loudly while stirring. Finally, in an attempt to placate the child, Severus explained his own relationship with Harry Potter. James left thinking it was Hogwarts tradition for the Potion Master to hate the Potter heir. Oddly, this seemed to satisfy James, as if because it was tradition it was alright. Clearly there was need for improved critical thinking skills.

Severus had tried to talk to Hermione about her behavior, but it really was hypocritical of him and he didn't get far before she'd remind him of that. Painfully and in detail.

Ronald Weasley finally stopped in to see her and tried to defend his nephew. His attempt ended with him being cursed into the lake, his hair on fire with a magical burn that the water only increased. She thought him a traitor for even getting to know his nephews. There was no way the red head could win this battle.

Shortly before Christmas holidays it was Remus Lupin that made the breakthrough suggestion and Snape jumped at the chance to finally knock some sense into his former apprentice.

"I can't do this anymore, Prof. Lupin." James' small quiet voice was shaking as he spoke. Severus had taken Lupin's advice and forced Hermione to the infirmary to witness the exchange between the werewolf and the child after his cauldron had exploded for the sixth time in her class. They were hidden behind a partition using spells to cover their presence. Sprout was out sick or she would have been the one giving comfort to the injured party. As it was, Lupin had spent time with the Potters and the child knew him well enough to trust him with such vital information. And he was less intimidating than his Uncle Ron.

Lupin smoothed the bed cloths over the child's bandaged hands and smiled gently at him. "It will be alright, James. You know, your father and grandfather had trouble in potions too. But your grandmother was real good at them. We'll get you through."

The little boy's eyes teared up again and Severus felt Hermione stiffen next to him.

"It's not the class," James sniffed. "She was supposed to be his friend. Mum told me that Dad, and Uncle Ron, and Aunt Hermione were all really close in school. She said she's look out for me. But she hates me!" James tried to wipe his eyes but his bandages got in the way and he had to settle for sniffling pathetically until Lupin wiped them for him. "Why does she hate me? Is it because I'm a lousy Hufflepuff and not in Gryffindor like they were? Is she disappointed?"

"Oh, James," Lupin responded, again wiping tears away from the boy's eyes. "She doesn't hate you. Your dad, he…he did some stupid things when he was younger and he hurt Prof. Granger. She's had a rough time of it since the war. You just have to let her yell and remember she's only doing it because she hurts so much."

James looked at his DADA professor with huge glistening green eyes and gulped. "Dad won't tell me what he did, but I saw the paper. He left her for dead." James' eyes hardened to an angry emerald and he scrunched his nose up in distaste. "How could he _do _that? Uncle Ron's got all these pictures and it's always the three of them…you don't do that to a _friend_. How could dad _do that?_"

Lupin put a hand up to stop the tirade. "He didn't leave her for dead, James. That was Skeeter talking and we both know you can't believe a word that woman writes. We all thought Hermione was dead. If we'd known different the entire Order would have been beating down the dungeon doors."

"Than _why_ does she hate him so much?" James pleaded.

Lupin let out a heavy sigh. "She loved him, James. She loved him and when we thought she was dead he moved on and married your mother."

James' eyes went large, this time with surprise. He gulped. "Prof. Granger was in love with my dad?"

Lupin nodded yes and settled into the chair next to the bed, ready to tell a long and painful story. Snape tightened his grip on Hermione's arm to keep her from interfering.

"You've heard us talk about the war." Remus began, his eyes heavy with pain. "We all lost people, James. What you have to understand is that for a while there it was just one after another. We lost Sirius, your father's godfather. We lost Tonks, my…" Lupin had to swallow thickly, "…my good friend. We lost and lost and…then we lost Hermione. Harry didn't know what to do. He didn't have many people he could depend on. Ron and Hermione were his only real friends. He didn't have anyone to turn to since Ron was also grieving. I wasn't much use, since I was still trying to come to grips with loosing Sirius and Tonks. Your mother was always there and he needed a shoulder to cry on…"

"And they fell in love." James added softly.

"And they fell in love." Lupin agreed equally quietly. "They didn't plan it, James. It just happened. I'm glad it did, because we wouldn't have you if it hadn't. But when Hermione woke up from the curse she thought she'd just been found. She didn't know years had passed. And your father couldn't handle having his first love back from the dead like that. He reacted badly and hurt Hermione even more. He didn't mean too and he'd do anything to fix this, there just isn't a way to do that. Somebody is going to get hurt no matter what he does. So he's made Prof. Granger mad at him, and he regrets that every day."

James snorted. "Dad's pretty good at making women mad at him. You should see the way mum screams at him sometimes."

Lupin chuckled. "It's a Potter family trait, one I hope you'll avoid."

"I'm not much of a Potter." James admitted bitterly. "I'm a bloody Hufflepuff. I can't fly a broom right to save my life. I can't do anything descent with a wand. I'm barely a wizard. I shouldn't even be at Hogwarts, just like Professor Granger says."

Lupin sighed and shook his head. "James, you'll be a fine wizard one day. You just have to find your talent. Not everyone is good a flying or throwing curses. You remind me of a boy I once thought named Neville; I think you might just know him…"

Snape pulled Hermione out of the infirmary leaving Lupin to his Longbottom tale. By the time they reached her dungeon office the woman was shaking.

There wasn't much Severus could do but hold her as she sobbed.


	8. Up the Ladder and Down the Wall

**Rise Up O Flame**

Author: Saavik

Disclaimer:

I do not own these characters. I do own the plot, the dialogue, and everything else I can get my grubby little hands on.

Summary:

Sequel to Where're You Make a Promise. What do you do when you've been gone for five years and the world has changed? What do you do when your only love has left you? How do you cope with being a relic of a past everyone wishes to forget? How do you live when you have nothing? AU: Does not take books 6 & 7 into consideration.

Pairings:

HG/HP, HP/GW, HG/SS, RW/NL

Warnings:

Death, Dark Arts, Torture, Bitterness, Rape, Depression, and Homicidal Tendencies.

Chapter Seven: Up the Ladder and Down the Wall

_One Year Later: 2011_

Draco Malfoy drunk was not a pleasant sight and Severus Snape would have been quite happy to have avoided viewing it for the last three hours. But, alas, he owed the boy a shoulder to cry on and a rug to pass out on if nothing else.

If 10 years ago someone had told him that Percy Weasley would beat Draco Malfoy in an election for Minister of Magic, Severus would have laughed in their face then hexed them.

Life wasn't fair, that was the long and short of it. Draco had stayed neutral in the war. He'd been a loyal MOM employee for years, the best of their Unspeakables. Percy had also been neutral and had also been a loyal employee. Line both men up and they both had all the same check marks and qualifications – down to nearly identical NEWT scores. So why had Percy won? Was it his vibrant personality? His ability to charm and flatter his constituents? Unlikely considering he was as personable was a molding wet mop.

No, Severus knew the real reason. Weasley. He'd won on his name and Draco had lost on his. It was that simple.

Like all his Slytherin's, Draco had done his best to outlive his family's past. His record was spotless. He'd married well to a foreign witch and was raising two young sons. But all anyone saw was the ghost of Lucius Malfoy.

Draco had spent years lining up support in his bid to be Minister, waiting patiently till Fudge died in his sleep. It had looked as if he'd be a shoe in for the emergency elections being held. Until at the last minute a Weasley put his name on the ballet. There was a time when a Weasley couldn't have even gotten their name on the same piece of paper as a Malfoy. Now, now a Malfoy didn't stand a chance next to the powerful family name.

The fact that Hermione and Ronald had both campaigned for Draco did bring a smile to Severus' rather dower face, but it hadn't helped the outcome.

Draco had lost by a landslide amidst accusations and threats. He'd lost his position as an Unspeakable due to unfounded rumors of corruption. The drunken, broken, man lying passed out on the rug in the Headmaster's office wasn't the Draco Malfoy Severus knew, it wasn't his godson. It was a wrecked facsimile and Severus wasn't going to have it.

Draco had avoided the Mark. Draco had lived a clean life. Draco had been everything society could ask of him. Severus Snape wasn't going to let this rest.

But first, he had to stop his godson from drowning in his own vomit.

At times like these he really wondered why he bothered getting up in the morning.

Severus was just reaching for a bottle of sobriety potion when there was a sharp knock on the door. Before he could lock it, a bushy head of hair poked inside followed by the rest of Granger as she slipped into the office. Severus scowled at her but Hermione ignored him and cast a quick glance to the figure making a mess of the carpet.

"I see he at least had the sense to do this where no one was likely to walk in on him with a camera." Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes heavenward. "Do you need a hand with him? I can help you get him cleaned up and in bed before I draft you for help in the dungeons."

"A second wand might be useful." Severus admitted grudgingly. It took them a few minutes to clean both Draco and the rug. Hermione levitated him into the guest room and Severus called a house-elf to sit with him in case the potion wasn't enough and he was sick again. When their task was completed Severus turned back to Hermione and raised an eyebrow. "You said you needed assistance with something?"

Hermione sighed and collapsed into one of Severus' chairs and threw her hands up in defeat. "Codswold is an idiot."

Severus smirked. "That I am well aware of. What has he done now?"

Hermione bit her lip to keep from cursing. It took her a minute to answer. "That…that…incompetent blithering _moron_ confessed to a room of depressed children that Weasley was his pick for Minister because you could never trust the child of a Deatheater."

Severus closed his eyes in pain. "He does realize that more than half of them _are_ children of Deatheaters, or the grandchildren of? Children that despite their familys pasts have never committed a crime?"

Hermione gave a disgusted sigh. "When I reminded him of that fact he told me it was high time they learned to accept their place. He said the Ministry was right to question them and continually harass them. Honestly! I'm a _muggleborn_ and I don't hate them. How can a fellow Slytherin be that…that…"

"Fucking insane?" Severus offered helpfully and smiled gently as Hermione slumped in her seat, offering him an answering smile.

"That fucking insane." Hermione agreed. "What are we going to do? These are _children_, innocent children that were barely _born_ when the fighting was taking place. The entire lot is ready to pack it in. They are convinced there's no need to study for their OWLS or their NEWTS since they will never be allowed to amount to anything."

Severus conjured a pot of tea and poured them both steaming cups before he answered. "To start with, I've discovered a loop hole in Hogwarts House arrangement. I'd intended to bring this up at the next staff meeting but I suppose we can push our time table up." Severus waved his wand and summoned a crinkled parchment. "It seems that during the first two centuries of operation House Heads were routinely not from their Houses."

Hermione snorted. "I know that, it was in Hogwarts: A History. For the first several centuries professors weren't from Houses because Hogwarts hadn't been around long enough to turn out qualified instructors. When former Hogwarts students started being hired it became tradition that only those sorted into a house could be its Head."

Severus nodded. "Yes, but until 1889 House Heads were chosen by the students. It just so happened that they almost always picked according to the sorting lines- there was no rule that said they _had_ to do so. The last time they voted against house alliance was in 1753. In 1889 the then Headmistress decided to wave the election since it had been over a hundred years since it had made a difference. But the rule still stands. The students of a house can remove their head and vote in another."

Hermione looked at him wide eyed. "Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?"

Severus smirked. "One election hasn't gone are way today. How about we try our luck at another?

And so Hermione Granger became the first Muggleborn head of Slytherin House on the 12th of March, 2011.


	9. A HalfPenny Loaf Will Serve Us All

Chapter Eight: A Half-Penny Loaf Will Serve Us All

* * *

**Two Years Later: 2013**

Severus Snape, Headmaster, was not any less intimidating a man than Severus Snape, potions master. And little James Potter was not a very brave child. It was therefore surprising that the small 3rd year was comfortable in the dark paneled office at the top of the stairs. For his part, Severus was never sure if this was the cruelest of ironies or a long overdue gift of fate. Whatever the reason, for the first time in his life, Severus Snape had come to the reluctant conclusion that he enjoyed time spent with a child. It wasn't that James reminded him of Lily - the child was so far removed from her vivaciousness of spirit as to make any comparison laughable. Nor was the boy anything like his father or grandfather. In fact, Severus had never known a child quite like him, either from his own youth or the considerable time he'd spent at Hogwarts as an instructor.

Ever since James' first year when Prof. Granger had driven him to near hysteria, Severus found he had a frequent visitor. Apparently, Snape's dry humor and honest sarcasm were welcome after the fawning of his fellow students and the closely hidden disappointment of his family. Surprisingly, James' father, the famous Harry Potter, was only encouraging to his son. Potter did not care if James was a brave Gryffindor or a quiet Hufflepuff. He only cared that James was happy, healthy, and doing his best. His mother Ginerva and her family were not nearly so understanding. Sure, his Uncle Ron said it didn't matter, and tried to pretend it didn't, but James wasn't a fool. His Uncle George was slightly better at it, but he too seemed to always be just a touch sad whenever he saw the yellow and black instead of red and gold on his nephew's robes. Family gatherings were always tense for little James and Hogwarts had become something of a refuge for him. Severus knew that feeling only too well. So he gave James what he himself would have given so much for at that age - someone to talk to, someone that would listen without judging him, someone that did not ask for anything in return.

It was because of this, and because Headmaster Snape had always done his best to make sure James wasn't abused too overly much, that the small boy had decided that his loyalty lay with the dark sour man instead of his Uncle Percy. Even if the matter really had to do with Professor Granger and James did not like Professor Granger, in fact if it would only have affected him, he wouldn't mind if Uncle Percy made her go away for a long long time. But Headmaster Snape liked her. Maybe more then liked her, if James' suspicions were correct. And it would make Headmaster Snape upset if anything bad happened to the potions mistress. James didn't want that and since Percy was never very nice to him, never did anything to protect him, not like Snape had, James figured his headmaster had earned his loyalty. Blood could only get you so far, after all.

So, as soon as the welcome feast ended, James worked up his not very substantial courage and left the line of Hufflepuffs on their way to their common room and instead made for the spiral staircase. The headmaster greeted him with what for Snape was warmth and James quickly found himself with a cup of tea and a seat by a roaring fire in the alcove off to the side of the massive desk that dominated the room. The collection of portraits that lined the office were all dosing, expect for Dumbledore, who peered down at the two with curiosity. No matter how many times he'd seen the two odd companions having a quiet tea, it still amazed the portrait to no end.

"What is it, James?" Snape asked, his tone carefully neutral. "You do not generally seek me out so quickly at the start of term. I thought Professor Granger had been more hospitable since your first year. It hasn't to do with your family has it? I read that your mother was ill."

James looked down and away, staring at the flickering flames in the fireplace. "Mum's more than ill, sir. She's dying. But the papers have already run with all the details so I won't bother you with them. And that's not why I came." James faltered to a stop and looked up with large eyes, green eyes, and blinked worriedly at his headmaster. "Sir, you should know."

Snape raised an eyebrow and James swallowed heavily. "Sir, my uncle said something when he came over for dinner yesterday. I think...I think you should know."

"James, you don't have to play spy on your family for me. I don't want that from you." Snape insisted quietly. "I won't put you in that kind of a position."

"But, sir, Uncle Percy is going to arrest Professor Granger." James hunched down in his chair as the headmaster's eyes flashed dangerously. "He told mum about it. Dad was putting the baby down for the night or he'd have tried to talk him out of it. But mum's been mad at Professor Granger ever since first year when she was so nasty to me. I think my uncle told her to try and cheer her up - she'd had a bad time of it at the healers. Uncle Percy said he could prove Granger was hiding Dark Arts objects in Hogwarts. That someone had turned her in and that the aurors would be raiding Hogwarts tonight. They wanted to make sure all the students were here so there would be the maximum number of objects on the premises. Sir, they won't stop with Professor Granger or the Slytherins. They'll come after you next and they plan on searching all of us, no matter House. Uncle Percy and the _Wizengamot _have made so much illegal, sir, I'm scared what they will find. I know even some of us Hufflepuffs are hiding things here. I even brought grandfather's cloak this year because dad said it wasn't safe at home with Uncle Percy around so much."

Snape stood up quickly and started pacing his office. "James, if I do anything to stop this Percy will know you told me. Things are hard enough for you at home."

"Dad would have told you if he'd been the one to hear it. Dad says what Uncle Percy is doing is wrong. Uncle Ron and Uncle George agree. I'll be fine. But we can't let them do this!" James' eyes flashed a bright green. "They want to _burn books_! That's just evil! Uncle Percy wants to regulate everything. He even made Uncle George stop selling half of the WWW's inventory because it was 'disruptive'. What was the point of the war you and dad fought if we loose our freedom to Percy and men like him?"

"I have been asking myself that question for the last 12 years, James." Snape sighed. "I'll take care of this. I want you to go back to your common room and warn your house. I'll take care of the others. When you've done all you can, I want you to go to third floor corridor and the Room of Requirement. I'm sure your father explained all about it." James nodded. "When you get there, I want you to ask for a place to hide. Stay there until I come to get you. I don't care who comes in to look for you, stay hidden. I don't want your Uncle coming for you when he figures out what you've done. Your father will calm things down for you but he'll need time."

"Yes sir." James stood up and started to go, but Snape's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Thank you, James." The headmaster's dark eyes glittered with some unknown emotion. "You are starting to remind me greatly of your grandmother. She could never stand an injustice either. For the first time I can truly see her in you."

As soon as James was gone, Severus threw a handful of powder into the fireplace. "Malfoy Manner." He growled. "Draco!" He bellowed. "Draco, get your good for nothing arse over here!"

"I'm coming. I'm coming." The muted voice of his godson came through the flow. "What's the disaster?" Draco's disheveled head appeared in the flames.

"Percy is planning on raiding the school. The _entire_ school. I need you. We've got maybe an hour to get everything bolted down."

"Right." Draco ran a hand through his hair. "I'll be there with a legal injunction as soon as I can. At this hour it's going to take some time to track down enough of the _Wizengamot_to sign off on it - especially since they had to approve of this to start with. I'm going to have to strong-arm them into reversing their decision. It's going to take a lot of blackmail." Draco eyed him hopefully.

Snape frowned and snapped his fingers. A grey looking house-elf in a warn but well made pillowcase popped into being. "Haverd, I need you to take the small wooden chest from my wardrobe and deliver it to Mr. Malfoy here. Discreetly."

"Yes master Severus." Haverd the house-elf bowed low. "Anything else I can do for you?"

"Tell the others it is time. Have them go to the Houses and secure what needs to be hidden." Snape pinched the bridge of his nose. "I must go warn Hermione."

Haverd bowed again and popped away. Snape turned back to Draco. "Move fast. I'm told they plan to arrest her. I can hide the students, but I cannot hide her. She won't let me."

Draco frowned. "I can't promise anything, Severus. But I will try."

"I know."

- - - / - - -/ - - -

"No."

"Hermione, you have to be reasonable about this. You know the Ministry has been after me for years. When you took over Slytherin and kept them from raiding you knew they'd come after you too. I have the protection of the castle as Headmaster to keep them from arresting me. You do not have that protection. The best we can do is keep you hidden until Draco can get the _Wizengamot_to reverse the warrant. I gave him enough blackmail to take down half the lot but he'll still need time to work."

Hermione shook her head. "No, Severus. I will not hide like a rat and cower behind a line of students. I did not fight a war only to be arrested by that prick Percy for doing nothing more then protecting broken bobbles and children's books."

Snape sighed. "Hermione, I can't protect you!"

"Who's asking you to?" Hermione sat down heavily and put her head in her hands. "What happened to fighting with a wand? I was good at that. This political insanity is not what I was trained for." She looked back and her jaw tightened. "But I will fight them, Severus. If Percy Weasley wants to arrest me and drag me before the _Wizengamot_then so be it. I have done _nothing _illegal. His raid here will turn up nothing. He'll be made a fool of. And I will gladly pay to watch, even if that payment is a year in Azkaban while I wait for it. I made it out of Malfoy's dungeons. The Ministry can do nothing to me that hasn't already been done."

"Hermione," Snape started to argue but at the look of determination on her face he gave up. Instead, he dropped to his knees in front of her, taking her hands into his. "You do not have to do this alone. Ronald and I, we will do everything we can from here."

"I know." Hermione squeezed his hands. "And I expect Draco as well, if for no reason then taking down Percy will give him some personal satisfaction. Just, whatever you do, do _not _bring back that incompetent ninny Slughorn to teach my classes."

Snape smiled grimly. "I promise." The wards on the school quivered and Snape cringed. "They are coming."

Hermione smoothed her robes and took up her teacup. "Let them come."

- - -/ - - - / - - -

"Percy, you prick, what have you done now?" Harry Potter growled at the Minister of Magic.

Percy pushed his glasses back up his nose and frowned at the Headmaster of Hogwarts and the Boy Who Lived across his desk. "Really, Harry. I thought Ginny would have told you about this sooner. I have evidence that Hermione Granger was hiding Dark Artifacts at Hogwarts. I have a witness that has sworn under Veritaserum that he gave her two dark books to be hidden and that she did so freely."

Snape snorted. "Dark books? I would wager they were merely older tomes that most likely referenced nothing more sinister then blood magic. If you hadn't let the aurors run wild burning tomes without proper authority or identification we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Sex magic as a matter of fact." Percy corrected lightly. "And as you know, all sex magic, and blood magics for that matter, were deemed dark after the downfall of the Dark Lord. All materials that reference such magics are to be turned over to the Ministry for disposal."

Harry rubbed his forehead and sat down heavily in the hard wooden chair in front of the minister's desk. "Percy, I know you like to follow rules, but this is _Hermione_ we're talking about. She helped bring down Voldemort. Do you honest think she's a dark witch? She probably hide those books because they were one of a kind. And you know Hermione and books. There's no way she'd let you burn knowledge like that. Besides, we both know sex magic isn't dark if it's done consensually and if it wasn't for blood magic I wouldn't be alive. The spell my mother used to protect me was clearly blood magic but hardly evil for Merlin's sake!"

"Be that as it may, both are legally dark no matter purpose or consent." Percy pursed his lips. "And Ms. Granger is in direct violation of Ministry edict."

"Prove it." Snape smirked and calmly took a seat next to Potter. "Your little raid of Hogwarts didn't turn up so much as a leaf of 'dark' magic text. Nor any other object your edicts have deemed to be questionable. You searched every student and every room. You have nothing."

"Every student but James Potter." Percy frowned at Harry. "We have yet to locate your son. Harry, you know he had to have warned them. He must have heard me talking to Ginny and gave Granger a warning in time to hide the items."

"Hermione and James are not exactly friends, Percy." Harry sighed. "What would you have done if you'd found him anyway?"

"Arrested him of course! He passed information to the enemy."

Harry's jaw dropped. "You plan to arrest my son! My 14-year-old son! What kind of man are you, Percy? I always knew you were an arse but this is unconscionable! You plan to go after Sirius next? He's 10 you know. He says he wants to be Minister. Might be competition."

"This is not a joking matter, Harry." Percy frowned. "And I do have serious concerns about young Sirius. He is quite unconventional in his interests for one so young and with Ginny's condition deteriorating I fear for his wellbeing."

"Leave Ginny out of this!" Harry stood up and leaned over the desk, his eyes flashing darkly. "Listen to me now, Percival Weasley. You come near my son, _either of them_, and you will learn exactly how foolish it is to cross Harry Potter. I did not survive the war by luck alone, you weasel. I don't care about Ministry regulations, or decrees, or your pointless witch hunt. You can start your own Spanish Inquisition, Weasley, but you will leave my family out of it. And you will leave Hermione Granger alone. She's done more for this world then your sorry arse ever will."

Percy stood up slowly. "I do not condone threats, Potter."

"And I don't make them." Harry stood up straight and glared, his eyes raking over Percy's taller form dismissively. "I've warned you. What happens next is up to you."

Harry turned on his heel and stormed out of the office leaving Snape sitting quietly in his chair, a small smirk on his mouth. The Minister turned to look at the headmaster and frowned. "Do you intend to threaten me as well?"

"No." Snape stood up slowly and pulled his robes tightly around himself. "I have no need to Weasley. You just pissed off the Boy Who Lived and what's left of the Order of the Phoenix. Merlin, even your own family is not likely to come to your defense once they learn you intend to arrest James. Come for me and for the school whenever you like. You know well what happened to the last wizard who attempted to take Hogwarts by force. We are not answerable to the Ministry. The Founders meant us to be independent and if we need return to that state, to exist outside of Ministry regulation, we can and we will. As for Hermione, you have no evidence against her and you will find none. Your so-called witness will be discredited. The _Wizengamot_ will have no choice but to free her. You over estimated your hand, Weasley."

"We will see, Snape. We will see."

- - - / - - - / - - -

"You shouldn't have come."

"Hermione," Harry sighed softly, "I'm going to get you out of here." He turned and nodded at Snape where he stood behind him in the dank hallway. "Azkaban is no place for a hero of the war."

Hermione snorted. "I'm no hero, Harry. I was a foul and a child."

"You can't expect me to sit by and let them put you on trial?" Harry gripped the cell bars tightly. "Hermione, I know we aren't on the best of terms, but I can't let Percy do this to you."

Hermione shook her head. "Take care of the boys, Harry. From what Severus just told me, Percy's going to go after James hard and if he's trying to use Ginny's illness to get his mitts on Sirius things are going to get bad -fast."

"I agree." Snape growled. "James is protected for now, but if Percy intends to use Ginerva's indisposition to gain custody of Sirius you will be needed at home."

"If people knew what was going on..." Harry started but Hermione interrupted him.

"They'd turn on you just like they have before. Harry, go home. Get your kids out of there and make sure Ginny's as comfortable as you can make her."

Harry blinked hard, moister gathering in his eyes. "Ginny asked to see you. She wanted to tell you she's sorry for how things happened."

Hermione bit her lip. "It wasn't her fault, Harry. Just, take care of her please. You'd think that with all our magic we'd have a cure for cancer by now but we're no better off then the muggles."

"Worse really." Harry sighed. "I didn't even know witches got breast cancer. Apparently we don't even do screenings. If she'd been going to muggle doctors they might have caught it in time."

"Too many ifs in life, Harry." Hermione smiled sadly. "Now go home. Severus and Draco have this covered."

Harry looked about to argue but at the glower on Snape's face decided it wasn't worth it. Without another word, he turned and left leaving his former professor to make his own way home from Azkaban.

As soon as Harry disappeared around the corner, Hermione slumped into the bars. "Severus, you've got to get Sirius out of there. If Percy told Harry he was going after him, then he's already got a plan. Percy is many things, but he's not stupid. He knows Harry's a threat and going after the kids is the only chance he's got to control Harry, especially with Ginny so sick."

"I know." Severus glanced around and lowered his voice. "I have it in hand, Hermione. I cannot tell you more. Not here. How are you doing?"

"Peachy." Hermione sighed heavily. "Azkaban without dementors is still unpleasant but I'll manage. I trust you have something in place for that as well?"

"Of course." Snape smirked. "Your trial is set to start tomorrow."

"Good. I always preferred to get these sort of things over with."

- - - / - - - / - - -

The courtroom was packed when Hermione was lead in. The ubiquitous changed chair was front and center and Hermione lowered herself to sit in it as if it was a thrown. Draco Malfoy stood and moved to her side, acting in her defense. A nervous looking former student, one Harold Fleswanger sat in the witness box and Hermione raised her eyebrow at him. Severus smirked. The boy had barely managed two NEWTS the previous year and had been quite vocal in his displeasure when Hermione had refused to recommend him for a position at St. Mungos. He was also a former Gryffindor.

The trial went surprisingly quickly. Fleswanger gave his evidence, stating under veritaserum that he gave two dark books to Hermione to protect, and was questioned by the _Wizengamot__._ Percy seemed to realize early on that things were not going as well as he'd hoped. Several prominent members of the _Wizengamot_were not talking and refused to meet his eye. And Draco was looking overly confident.

Severus watched Hermione with pride as she sat emotionless, the ridiculously oversized chains wrapped tightly around her. She had given Lucius no quarter and she'd give the Ministry dogs none either.

Percy Weasley finally stood and adjusted his robes before turning to her. "What do you have to say in your defense?"

Hermione smirked. "Percy, you rampaging idiot. Did you even ask that nearly magicless lout the _titles_?"

Percy stiffened. Draco moved forward. "Mr. Fleswanger, please tell us the titles of the books in question?"

Fleswanger's mouth opened and closed. The Veritaserum would not let him lie.

Draco's grin was positively gleeful. "Do you know the titles?"

Fleswanger looked pained. "No."

"So you gave Professor Granger two books to protect without knowing their titles?"

"I don't remember them. But they had something about sex magic in them! That's why I wanted to hide them."

"But you never read them?"

"No! Of course not."

"So you have no idea of the actual contents of these books?"

"My father had them hidden! And we all know how evil he was."

Draco smirked. "Really? Your father was one Mr. Septumus Fleswanger was he not?"

"Yes."

"And Mr. Fleswanger was never convicted of any crime, was he?"

"Well no. But neither was Snape and it's common knowledge he was a Death Eater. And so were you."

Draco raised an eyebrow and the left sleeve of his robe. "No mark, I assure you. As for Severus Snape, he was vouched for by Albus Dumbledore himself. Now, if you have no clue what the contents of the books were, and you cannot remember the titles, then the only evidence you have that they were dark in nature is that your father hide them? If you felt so strongly about the contents, why not turn them over to the Ministry?"

Fleswanger's mouth closed. Draco smirked. "Come now, Fleswanger. You must answer."

He fought the veritaserum for a few moments before he spit out an answer. "Because I thought I might need them one day."

The court broke out in whispers. "You thought you might need them one day." Draco tusked. "So you took what you thought were Dark books to a _school_ to hide them?"

"Yes."

"So the authorities wouldn't get them."

"Yes."

"Professor Granger said something to you, didn't she, when you gave her the books? What was it?"

Fleswanger tried to fight it again but it was useless. "She said she didn't think the Ministry would care about them." The courtroom broke out in murmurs again. "She said she'd take them, however, since she didn't think I was old enough to read them."

Draco nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Fleswanger, for finally being honest. Headmaster, do you have anything to add?"

Snape stood up and turned to face the _Wizengamot_. Percy made to object but his father cleared his throat and Percy reluctantly retook his seat. Snape sneered. "When the identify of the so called witness was revealed I was able to locate the books in question." The crowd erupted. Snape glared and they quickly quieted. "The Ministry aurors walked right by them. Professor Granger had them added to the library as a donation in Mr. Fleswanger's name." Snape pulled two books out of his pocket and handed them to one of the court aurors. "The titles are, for the record, _A history of Sex Magic_ and _The Lore of Seduction: Dark Arts, Sex Magic, and the Rise of Merlin_. The books are historical in nature, Minister, and contain no spells, incantations, potions, or other instructions on magical practice. Mr. Septumus Fleswanger was an imminent historian and likely had these tomes hidden so his young children would not read them. Just as Prof. Granger had the books placed under restriction in our library at Hogwarts."

From there things went quickly. Snape watched with barely contained delight as the _Wizengamot_ turned on Weasley. They clearly did not appreciate being brought together for something so innocent as the donation of history books. Hermione kept her face calm until Percy reluctantly ordered her released. As soon as the chains fell away she sneered at him. Snape came forward and took her arm, silently leading her out of the courtroom. Arthur Weasley clearly wanted to say something to her, but Snape didn't give him the chance. If he'd really cared he would have checked on her before now.

Draco, Snape, and Hermione made it back to Hogwarts in record time.

"I don't know what to say." Hermione sighed heavily before sitting down slowly in one of the plush chairs in the headmaster's sitting room.

Draco sneered. "Oh how about, I Hermione Granger owe Draco Malfoy a wizarding debt?"

"How about, I Hermione Granger, promise not to hex one Draco Malfoy for being an arse - good for the next half hour."

"I see Azkaban hasn't improved your disposition." Draco frowned. "Come on. Admit you owe us."

"Hardly." Hermione sniffed. "If you and Severus hadn't gotten me cleared of all charges, he'd have to run this school without me. And we all know how impossible that would be. And if Severus was that stressed, he'd turn to you for help. And you DO owe him a debt. So you'd have to help out. Prof. Malfoy - it does have a nice sound to it."

Draco paled. "Do not even threaten that. I may no longer have a shot at Minister, but I'm still rich. I have no desire to live in this hellish damp castle and teach a lot of incompetent whining babies."

"At least I did teach you something." Snape muttered. "Draco, why don't you go home? I'm sure your wife and children have missed your company."

"Amelia and the boys are in France for the month." Draco shrugged. "I didn't want them here in case the trial went badly and the _Wizengamot_ turned on me instead of freeing Hermione. Blackmail can backfire you know."

"What did this cost you?" Hermione asked softly.

"We have exhausted our leverage." Severus sat down heavily across from her. "That was the last of it. If Weasley tries anything else, I'm afraid we have little to bargain with. And since the _Wizengamot_ fell on our side only because of what we threatened them with, next time they are likely to be twice as harsh. We must keep a low profile."

"What about Potter?" Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose. "Percy's still after him."

Severus frowned. "I have James under my protection. I invoked an old ward that will keep James from being forcibly removed from the grounds. So long as he stays within Hogwarts wards, Weasley can't get his hands on him. But I'm concerned. James knows his mother's health is rapidly declining. He wants to be with her."

"Weasley is watching the Potter house." Draco shook his head sadly. "If that boy gets within a league of the place he'll be arrested. And Ginerva's too weak to be moved."

"That poor child." Hermione whipped her eyes swiftly. "I've been such a beast to him and he's going through this to help me."

"No I'm not." A soft voice said from behind her.

Hermione turned and found James Potter standing in the doorway to Severus' guest rooms, a blanket wrapped around his slim shoulders.

"He's been staying here." Severus admitted softly. "I know that most of the students are on our side in this, but I couldn't risk one of them stunning him and taking him off grounds while I was away at your trial."

"I'm glad your safe, professor." James came closer and Hermione could see the tear streaks on his face. "But I didn't do this for you." James turned to Severus and looked him squarely in the eye. "I did this because you have always been there for me, headmaster. And I know what Uncle Percy is doing is wrong and it would have hurt you. You care a lot about Prof. Granger - I know you do. We all see it. And you care a lot about this school and about all of us students. I couldn't let Uncle Percy get away with it."

"James," Severus started to speak but the boy held up his hand.

"Please, sir, don't tell me it's stupid. I know it's stupid. I know what this means. Uncle Percy will arrest me - someday. And that's okay. But you've got to promise something." James' green eyes fairly glowed in the flickering light of the fireplace. "Dad's going to ask you for a favor. When he does, you have to promise me you'll do your best to grant it."

Severus' eyes narrowed. "What aren't you tell us, James?"

"Only what I can't, professor." James closed his eyes. "If something happens, and Uncle Percy arrests me, dad will do something about it. And there are some things that will come to light when he does - unless you help him."

"And what makes you think I'd help Harry Potter?" Severus asked darkly.

James opened his eyes. "You won't. But you'll help his sons. I don't know why, sir, but I do know you will. And my brother will need you. Dad will do what he can for me, but that will mean Sirius won't have him there to protect him. And my sister's still a baby."

"Protect him from what?" Hermione asked sharply. "What could your brother possibly need protection from?"

James turned sad eyes to her before looking away. "Everything." With that the child walked out of the room, returning to his bed in the guest quarters.

"Well, he's got a penitent for the dramatic." Draco drawled.

"It's secret kept." Hermione narrowed her eyes at the empty doorway. "I could smell it."

"What the devil could be so important about a 10 year old that Potter would use a Fidelus?" Severus glared at the fire. "James has never spoken much about his brother. I assumed it was because they are four years apart. I thought perhaps he saw him as a responsibility he was glad to escape during school."

"No," Draco shook his head. "There's something else going on. Potter was asking me some rather odd questions during our prep for the trial. He asked if he could borrow a few things from the Malfoy Library - and not the one most people know about either. He wanted things from father's personal collection. He wouldn't tell me what. He just asked to be left alone down there to look around. He looked so desperate I made him take an oath not to breath a word of its existence to anyone and apparated him into it. He spent almost twelve hours down there before he signaled he was ready to leave."

"What the hell could Harry need Dark books for?" Hermione bit her lip. "And what in the world could it have to do with his son? Or do you think he's stupid enough to try and use Dark Arts to save Ginny?"

"It's Potter. I always lean towards stupid." Severus sighed. "But James wouldn't be acting like this if his father was planning something like that. And it's not Ginny the issue centers on. It's Sirius."

"Well, we'll find out more next year." Hermione reasoned. "He turns eleven soon."

"I'm not sticking around to find out." Draco sneered. "Since I was the one who made all the blackmail threats, I'm heading out to join my family for a while. I want to make sure everything's calm before I show my face around here. Weasley's already trying to find some reason to arrest me. This will only make him more convinced I'm out to get him."

"You are." Hermione and Severus responded and Draco laughed.

"Yes, but that's not the point. Try and stay out of trouble for at least the next six months will you two? I need a vacation."

"Take care, Draco." Hermione hugged him quickly. "I really can't thank you enough."

Draco's eyes clouded. "You know, I knew he had you." Hermione stiffened. "Father told me he had a Gryffindor with frizzy hair when we met for tea in Hogsmeade...I knew." Draco looked down and shook his head. "I didn't help you then, Granger. I couldn't. The best thing I could do was pretend I didn't know who he was talking about. I wasn't about to risk my neck to try and rescue you. Besides, classes were in session and if I showed up at the manor he'd have known something was off. And you weren't the first. Or the last." Draco looked back up and caught his godfather's eye. "I never told anyone I knew. I figured what was the point? It's probably a good thing I didn't know you were pregnant. If I had, I might have said something, tried to get something for the information. I've never been a good person." He turned back to Hermione and didn't flinch from her hard stare. "A person can regret a lot of things, Granger, and ten years is a long time to learn exactly how much. I stayed out of the war as much as I could, but none of us escaped it totally. We all have debts we owe. Severus pays for them in his way. I used to think that I paid for mine as an unspeakable, all the shitty nasty things they have to do to keep us all secret from the muggles and safe from each other, I figured that was my payment. Now that's gone and all I'm left with is the fact that nothing I do will ever make up for what I didn't do back then."

"If you'd tried to come after me you'd have died." Hermione insisted softly. "Besides, I wasn't a friend to you then. I was the annoying mudblood that kept getting higher marks then you."

"Doesn't excuse any of it, Granger. Don't pretend it does. I may have done nothing since you were nothing to me, but I did nothing plenty of times when they were friends too. Yours wasn't the only cell."

"War is hell." Hermione insisted. "I don't blame you for self preservation, Draco. But I can't forgive you either. I still thank you for what you did for me this time. That at least is in my power."

Draco ran a shaky hand through his hair. "I thought all this would end with us, you know? Now Potter's kids are caught up in our mess and it's only a matter of time till mine are as well. Does this crap never stop?"

Hermione sighed. "If it did, we'd only invent some new insanity to take its place. Humans cannot stand utopia, Draco."

- - - / - - -/ - - -

Two weeks later and things had settled back into something close to the normal order of things at Hogwarts. Hermione was back teaching potions, much the relief of the students who had decided that as bad as her temper was, it was _nothing_ compared to the headmaster in the classroom. James Potter was back in the Hufflepuff dorms, much the hero it would seem for his actions in warning the school about his uncle's ill-advised plans. Even though the boy was confined to Hogwarts for the foreseeable future, in all it wasn't a bad situation except for his mother.

Ginny Potter was at deaths door.

James was handling the situation as well or better then one could expect a 14 year old boy to be. He was sullen and moody. His grades had hit an all time low. And his normally even temperament had given way to almost violent fits of anger at the smallest provocation. The worst part was his accidental magic. Like his father, it seemed the boy was given to emotional magical outbursts and several classes had been disrupted by these unpredictable out lettings of stress - and one hallway would never quite be the same since even house-elf magic didn't want to remove the scorch marks.

Of course, these accidental magical bursts only made James more a public figure then ever before. His knew celebrity status for his timely warning combined with his birth father's history and his suddenly exposed power levels had long reaching ramifications. Reporters were constantly trying to get to the boy, both to witness what were becoming legendary displays of powerful uncontrolled magic, and to see if they could get a few words from the boy about his mother's impending death.

Since students blowing things up, accidently or intentionally, was nothing new at Hogwarts, and since Snape had been dealing with reporters for what felt like an eternity - ever since his trial all those years ago at the end of the Dark Lord's first reign, things felt rather normal.

Of course, the fact that James Potter still came to have tea with him twice a week wasn't exactly _normal_ at least not a normal that had existed for any great length of time. But Severus still liked the boy, even if he did cause mass destruction at least once a day. The pitiful look of contriteness on his face afterwards was oddly endearing. And Severus knew well enough what it was like to loose one's mother. Of course, he hadn't known it was it coming when he was James' age, but he knew the pain well enough. And he knew what it was like to be alone and scared at 14 knowing you no longer had something everyone else did - someone nearly everyone else had. Oh, Severus knew that pain all too well. So he continued to sit and talk with James whenever he needed it.

For her part, Hermione had let up on the boy. She'd even gone so far as to join them for tea once and to tell James a few stories from her youth. He'd listened, clearly relishing the chance to hear about his parents when they were young, but the sadness in his eyes never went away.

Things outside of Hogwarts, however, were a far cry from normal. All news from the Potter house had dried up a week after Hermione's trial. No letters had come for James, and Ron wasn't able to learn anything when he apparated to the house. The Ministry had warded the place so that no one could get in or out except the healers - for the Potter's privacy they said. The fact that the Weasley clan couldn't get in to see Ginny on her deathbed couldn't be excused away as 'privacy concerns' however. The newspapers had stopped covering the Potter residence in favor of stories on James and things were rapidly beginning to have a feeling of déjà. The Prophet was going after James like they'd gone after Harry during his youth - story after story questioned the boy's sanity, his allegiance to the light, and his loyalty to his family.

None of that did Snape have control over however, so as long as the happenings inside the castle were as normal as it was possible for Hogwarts to get, he was happy.

The dark crow that dropped a crumpled piece of cheap muggle paper on his desk a good three hours after nightfall was not normal.

Severus eyed the missive with distain. The crow made an indignant squawk before it flew off. After checking to see if the paper was cursed, Severus opened it to find a single sentence written in muggle pen.

_Meet me at the kitchen table_.

It took a moment to place the handwriting. It had been years since he'd had to pick out Potter's horrific scrawl. But there it was. Harry Potter's inelegant hand giving him a cryptic message.

Severus frowned. Kitchen table...what could the brat mean? Clearly not the Hogwarts kitchens, he'd have felt the school wards tingle if someone had breached them without permission. He had the entire school on high alert to keep out the Ministry and the reporters. But what other table...it came to him suddenly and he closed his eyes to absorb the realization. Potter could only mean Grimmauld Place. The only kitchen table that both of them had ever sat at together was in its kitchen. And Potter had vowed to never enter that house again after Black's death. And he'd kept to his word as far as anyone in the Order knew. They'd had to abandon the place when Potter refused to take ownership at the mutt's death. They couldn't maintain the complex net of blood wards without him.

Snape didn't waste time. He left a quick note for Hermione telling her he was going out and apparated to the park across from the old headquarters. There was no one around, being so late into the evening, and Severus slipped in through the door without incident. The meager wards they'd left behind were dulled with age and neglect but they felt intact. They were only meant to stop muggle thieves and the like from scavenging the place, but Snape tapped into them anyway to see if the house had been disturbed at all since he and Albus had shut the door so many years ago. A single incident flared in the wards and Snape knew he'd been right. Someone had entered the house not an hour ago and was still inside.

He found Potter in the kitchen. The ancient stove was lighted for heat and the infant Potter, a girl- Severus couldn't remember her name - was in a muggle carrier on the table. Sirius Potter was sitting in the corner, asleep against the cabinet doors. Their father, however, was slumped over the table, his head resting on his hands and Severus could see his shoulders shaking from the doorway.

"Potter." Severus called softly and the man jerked upright, his eyes red and still moist. "What is it?"

Potter wiped angrily at his eyes and Snape noticed for the first time that Potter's wand was clutched in his hand. "Ginny's dead." Harry whispered. Severus eyed the children and Harry shook his head. "I gave Sirius a sleeping draught. He'll be out for at least another 12 hours. And Molly can sleep through anything."

Severus nodded and moved to take a seat across the dusty table from his former student. "I take it you escaped quietly from the house and made it here to hide."

"No." Harry clutched his wand tighter but made no move to raise it. "I killed two aurors and ran like hell to meet you. I'll hide later."

Severus' eyebrow met his hairline. "You killed two aurors?"

Harry's jaw tightened. "They wanted to take my children. I couldn't let them do that."

"You had better explain from the beginning." Snape eyed the wand still clutched in Potter's hand. "And will you put that away? I hear you say you killed two people tonight, I'd feel better if that wasn't so prominently displayed."

"Three. I killed three people." Harry whispered. He slowly pried his fingers open and with great care put his wand back into his pocket. "I had to." Severus didn't say anything. Harry's head dropped and he slowly began to speak.

"Ginny wasn't getting better, but she wasn't getting worse either. The healers were keeping her just this side of alive but the pain was agonizing. She...she asked me to do it." Harry looked up, tears sliding down his cheeks. "She was in so much pain, Snape. Can you understand that? She wasn't going to get better. There wasn't a miracle cure. There was just more pain and more humiliation and it was going to just keep going and going... She'd begged the healers to stop their treatments, to let her go. But they were under orders from Percy to keep her alive. He didn't want to lose his sister."

Severus closed his eyes. "I understand, Potter. I do not envy you that choice."

"I didn't want to do it." Harry cried out loudly, banging his fist on the table. The baby sputtered for a moment but didn't wake. Harry's entire body shivered and the fire in the stove flared. "She begged me..."

"Then what happened?"

Harry turned to look at Sirius. "If I tell you something, Snape, you have to promise me you'll do everything you can for him." He turned dark eyes towards the headmaster and Snape had to contain a shiver at the desperation in them. "He's just a child, Snape. He doesn't know what he's doing."

"When have I ever not aided a child, Potter?" Snape eyed the sleeping child. "What in Merlin's name can both you and James be so concerned over? He's just a 10 year old boy."

"He's a necromancer." Harry whispered and Snape's head shot around. "Sirius, he's...he's been calling people since he was old enough to crawl."

"That's impossible." Severus managed to croak, his voice gone in shock. "Necromancy takes decades of practice."

"He was born with it." Harry insisted softly. "Imagine my shock when I walked into the nursery and saw my dead mother standing over his crib. He'd seen her picture on the mantle apparently, and wondered why she was never at the house. Mum explained what happened..."

"You talked to Lily?"

Harry smiled ruefully. "I talk to a lot of dead people, Snape. When Siri is awake there's nearly a constant parade. We had a devil of a time hiding it from everyone and he's the main reason we've never come back to the wizarding world. We used to have to drug him before taking him to family gatherings _just in case_. When he was old enough we explained he couldn't do that in public, only when it was just us could he risk it. It took a while to make him understand. But with Ginny..." Harry broke off, a sob cutting off his speech. He took several deep breaths. "His mother just died, Snape. He's going to call her, intentionally or not. It's hard for him to control when he's emotional. All he has to do is think he'd like to speak to someone and bang they show up."

"That could be awkward."

"Riddle was bad enough alive. Nearly died of a heart attack when Siri called him up to ask him his side of the story." Harry shivered. "We've had aurors crawling all over the place since Hermione's trial. They want James arrested. Since we won't pull him from Hogwarts...we wouldn't..." Harry blinked slowly. "Ginny knew I wouldn't leave until she passed. And Siri was having a hard time controlling his gift, it's especially hard when he's stressed. It was only a matter of time until he slipped up and one of the aurors or Percy caught him. She was in so much pain, Severus, and Siri...we couldn't wait anymore."

"So you killed her and the aurors on guard, grabbed the children, and ran." Severus finished softly.

"That's the overview, yes." Harry sighed. "I need you to promise me you'll look after him. Molly could go to the Weasleys and she'd be alright. I'd prefer if you'd take her to Ron, but if you can't I'll drop her off with Arthur. But Siris can't be out in the open. I need him secure."

"You want me to take him to Hogwarts, to extend the same protection to him that I did to James." Snape stated.

"Yes." Harry's eyes burned brightly in the flickering light of the stove. "His talent is under Fidelus, you can't tell anyone about it, but the charm won't hide it if he _does_ something. And if someone catches him, they won't be under the spell restriction. There was no way to extend it to cover the full situation. I know the first thing he's going to do when he wakes up and finds out Ginny is dead will be to call her. I can't have him at the Weasleys when he does that."

"Who else knows?"

"Only James. Ginny and I didn't let on to a soul. She knew what Percy would do with the information. But, he suspects something. That's why he's trying to get the Wizengamot to take custody."

Snape's eyes narrowed. "So I take the boy and the babe. What do you intend to do?"

Harry's eyes hardened. "I intend to end this. Percy won't stop until he has my children, Snape. And he'll know Ginny didn't die of natural causes. I had to burn her body and scatter the ashes just in case. It's one thing if Siri calls her spirit. We couldn't risk him trying to bring her back. He's just a kid. I don't know what he'll do."

"You are going to call Percy out, aren't you?"

"Yes." Harry hissed. "I've had enough of this insanity. While Ginny was alive I couldn't bring myself to challenge her brother. But she's dead and this has to end. It may take me a while to get close enough to invoke a duel. He's under constant guard and it's not like I can send him an owl. I'll need to be within arms length to challenge."

Snape frowned. "You might loose. And even if you win, duels are illegal. The Wizengamotwill have to prosecute you - Boy Who Lived or not. You'll spend the rest of your life in Azkaban."

"Better me then Sirius." Harry affirmed. "So I need you to promise me you'll protect them."

Severus stared into Potters eyes, into Lily's eyes, and for the second time in his life he uttered the same damning oath. "I will do everything in power to protect your son and see he grows up as safely as possible, you have my word and my oath as a wizard."

The air hissed with magic as the oath took hold and Harry's eyes shined again with tears. "Thank you, professor. Thank you from the bottom of my soul." Harry pulled his wand out and pointed it a small scar on his left palm. "I'll need to transfer the Fidelus to you. If Percy wins, or I get caught, I can't risk the Fidelus ending with my death." Snape nodded and Harry muttered the incantation, a slip of gossamer silver light slipping from the scar to settle onto Snape's chest where it disappeared with a warm tingle.

Harry gave a mirthless laugh as he saw it fade away. "You know, professor, no matter what, it seems like blood magic and I just keep coming into contact."

"Few people even know that Fidelus is blood magic." Snape agreed softly as the magic of the transference spell suffused slowly through his system. "I'm surprised you knew how to perform one."

"Hermione taught me." Harry smiled grimly. "It was the last spell we worked on together, before she was captured. She said I had to know in case I ever needed to hide something. In retrospect, I think she was trying to tell me she was pregnant, trying to prepare me for that, but I was too stupid to see it." Harry sighed heavily. "Please thank her for me, will you? I know I haven't been there for her, and that I've been a horrible git about everything. But without her I couldn't have protected Sirius."

"I'll tell her." Snape promised.

Harry nodded and stood up, his chair scrapping the rough floor. "Sirius knew before he went to sleep that Ginny wasn't going to be alive when he woke up. She asked him to take the draught first so he wouldn't feel her passing. We don't know what that would have done to him. He's so young and there's so little written about necromancy, even Malfoy didn't have much on it." Harry trailed off, his eyes slipping closed in grief. "Please don't let him wake up alone, Snape." Harry turned bright eyes back to his former professor. "If I know Sirius, he'll start calling people as soon as he wakes, trying to find Ginny. It may be difficult to stay in the room. I can't promise who will come. When he's desperate anybody can answer him. It's usually Mum or Sirius Black, but dad's come a few times and so has Hedwig of all things. It's like they are somehow extra attached to him. Mum says they try and protect him from the other side, stop most of the bad things he could see or call."

Snape shivered. "I'll stay right next to him till he's awake." Snape stood up and moved to the baby's carrier. "I'll want to tell Hermione the truth. I'll need her help to hide them."

"Might as well tell Ron too. He's not half as stupid as he pretends to be. He'll figure it out. So will Neville." Harry chuckled. "So much for Ginny and I's darkest secret. We hid him from everyone for ten years and now, in less then 24 hours, you'll be telling half of Scotland."

"Not half, Potter. But I will need allies, especially if we have a shot in hell of keeping you from getting Kissed."

Harry's mouth quirked. "I notice you haven't tried to talk me out of killing Percy."

"Honestly," Snape muttered, "the thought had crossed my mind several times. You'll being doing us a favor." Snape sighed and shook his head. "I can hide children within the school, the wards will protect them. But I can't hide adults. If I could..."

"Thanks, Snape." Harry smirked. "Who would have ever pictured this?"

"Shut up, Potter, and get going." Snape growled, pointing his wand at the still sleeping Sirius. "I have to apparate two children and myself across half of Britain and you need to find a better hiding place. Percy will look here soon enough when he figures out what you've done."

"Don't worry." Harry smiled down at his son where he floated next to the potion master. "Good thing about having a necromancer for a son is having the undead help you plan. My godfather was rather good at hiding. I'll be safe until I can make my move."

"See to it that you are." Snape eyed him again. "Good luck, Potter."

"And to you, Snape."

Harry left first and Snape waited a solid two minutes before he followed the man outside. Things were still quiet but Snape didn't waste any time apparating away. It wasn't until he was safe on Hogwarts land, and met by a scowling Hermione at the gates, that he breathed a sigh of relief.

"What in Merlin's name is going on?" Hermione eyed the muggle baby carrier in Snape's arms and the floating form of Sirus and her eyes grew large. "What is that foul planning?"

"Something courageous and utterly Gryffindor." Snape answered back sharply. "Now help me get Sirius up to my rooms. And summon James and Ronald. I've got to put a firecall into Draco. I think we'll need all of them for what's coming."

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the long delay in finishing this story. I have a lot of PIP out there and I made a promise, in one of my Star Trek stories, that I'd finish all of these before I started posting any more chapter stories. Now that I finished Allocations, which was a very long ST piece, I've selected this story to be next in my 'complete all the stuff left hanging' mission. Two more chapters stand after this. Thank you to all my readers that have hung in there waiting for me to get back to this story. _


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